Search results for "Bank vole"

Does quality of winter food affect spring condition and breeding in female bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus)?

2004

We studied the effects of food supplementation on 16 bank vole populations in spring. We manipulated food quantity and quality in eight populations that were enclosed and eight other populations th...

Early life of fathers affects offspring fitness in a wild rodent.

2019

Intergenerational fitness effects on offspring due to the early life of the parent are well studied from the standpoint of the maternal environment, but intergenerational effects owing to the paternal early life environment are often overlooked. Nonetheless, recent laboratory studies in mammals and ecologically relevant studies in invertebrates predict that paternal effects can have a major impact on the offspring's phenotype. These nongenetic, environment-dependent paternal effects provide a mechanism for fathers to transmit environmental information to their offspring and could allow rapid adaptation. We used the bank vole Myodes glareolus, a wild rodent species with no paternal care, to …

Exposure to environmental radionuclides is associated with altered metabolic and immunity pathways in a wild rodent

2019

Wildlife inhabiting environments contaminated by radionuclides face putative detrimental effects of exposure to ionizing radiation, with biomarkers such as an increase in DNA damage and/or oxidative stress commonly associated with radiation exposure. To examine the effects of exposure to radiation on gene expression in wildlife, we conducted a de novo RNA sequencing study of liver and spleen tissues from a rodent, the bank vole Myodes glareolus. Bank voles were collected from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ), where animals were exposed to elevated levels of radionuclides, and from uncontaminated areas near Kyiv, Ukraine. Counter to expectations, we did not observe a strong DNA damage resp…

Borrelia afzeliialters reproductive success in a rodent host

2018

The impact of a pathogen on the fitness and behaviour of its natural host depends upon the host–parasite relationship in a given set of environmental conditions. Here, we experimentally investigated the effects ofBorrelia afzelii,one of the aetiological agents of Lyme disease in humans, on the fitness of its natural rodent host, the bank vole (Myodes glareolus), in semi-natural conditions with two contrasting host population densities. Our results show thatB. afzeliican modify the reproductive success and spacing behaviour of its rodent host, whereas host survival was not affected. Infection impaired the breeding probability of large bank voles. Reproduction was hastened in infected females…

Comparable response of wild rodent gut microbiome to anthropogenic habitat contamination

2021

Abstract Species identity is thought to dominate over environment in shaping wild rodent gut microbiota, but it remains unknown whether the responses of host gut microbiota to shared anthropogenic habitat impacts are species-specific or if the general gut microbiota response is similar across host species. Here, we compare the influence of exposure to radionuclide contamination on the gut microbiota of four wild mouse species: Apodemus flavicollis, A. sylvaticus, A. speciosus and A. argenteus. Building on the evidence that radiation impacts bank vole (Myodes glareolus) gut microbiota, we hypothesized that radiation exposure has a general impact on rodent gut microbiota. Because we sampled (…

Interactive effects of past and present environments on overwintering success-a reciprocal transplant experiment

2012

Life-history traits are influenced by environmental factors throughout the lifespan of an individual. The relative importance of past versus present environment on individual fitness, therefore, is a relevant question in populations that face the challenge of temporally varying environment. We studied the interacting effects of past and present density on body mass, condition, and survival in enclosure populations of the bank vole (Myodes glareolus) using a reciprocal transplant design. In connection with the cyclic dynamics of natural vole populations, our hypothesis was that individuals born in low-density enclosures would do better overwintering in low-density enclosures than in high-den…

Maintenance of genetic diversity in cyclic populations-a longitudinal analysis inMyodes glareolus

2012

Conspicuous cyclic changes in population density characterize many populations of small northern rodents. The extreme crashes in individual number are expected to reduce the amount of genetic variation within a population during the crash phases of the population cycle. By long-term monitoring of a bank vole (Myodes glareolus) population, we show that despite the substantial and repetitive crashes in the population size, high heterozygosity is maintained throughout the population cycle. The striking population density fluctuation in fact only slightly reduced the allelic richness of the population during the crash phases. Effective population sizes of vole populations remained also relative…

2019

Predation risk and food: opposite effects on overwintering survival and onset of breeding in a boreal rodent

2012

1. In seasonal environments, optimal onset of breeding and survival plays major roles in individual fitness. Many physiological and behavioural factors related to breeding increase the risk of predation; thus, breeding decisions should be based on current risks and benefits. According to life-history theory, if current predation risk is high and breeding itself increases the risk, it may be beneficial to postpone breeding. 2. During winter in northern hemispheres, food availability is limited and is at its lowest just prior to the onset of breeding in spring. Food constraint may lead to poor condition and reduced ability to start breeding. 3. We studied the effects of food and predation ris…

How Do Infanticidal Male Bank Voles (Myodes glareolus) Find the Nest with Pups?

2016

Infanticide, the killing of conspecific young, occurs in most mammal species, like in our study species, the bank vole (Myodes glareolus). Infanticide by adult males is regarded as a strong factor affecting recruitment of young into population. It is considered as an adaptive behaviour, which may increase male fitness via resource gain or an increased access to mates. When an intruder is approaching the nest, the mother should not be present, as her nest guarding is very aggressive and successful. Pups use ultrasonic vocalisation to call their mother when mother leaves nest for foraging but it is not know which cues do infanticidal males use to find the nest with vulnerable pups to commit i…