The Influence of High Quality Food on Habitat Use by Arctic Microtine Rodents

Abstract

We used laboratory feeding trials to test the palatability and quality of 25 species of vascular plants for two common species of microtine rodents, the tundra vole (Microtus oeconomus) and the singing vole (M. miurus), in northern Alaska. Tundra voles ate more (high palatability) and grew better (high quality) on sedges that were most abundant in the low, wet habitats favored by tundra voles; singing voles ate more and grew better on shoots of forbs and leaves of deciduous shrubs that were most abundant in the more mesic habitats preferred by singing voles