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Body mass dynamics in the Mediterranean pine vole Microtus duodecimcostatus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 April 2001

Emmanuel Paradis
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, U.K.
Xiaoming Wang
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Ecology, Department of Biology, East China Normal University, 3663 Zhong Shan Road, 200062 Shangai, Peoples' Republic of China
Gérald Guédon
Affiliation:
Délégation régionale ACTA, Maison de l'Agriculture de Vendée, Boulevard Réaumur, F-85013 La Roche-sur-Yon cédex, France
Henri Croset
Affiliation:
Institut des Sciences de l'Évolution, Université Montpellier II, Case Courrier 64, Place Eugène Bataillon, F-34095 Montpellier cédex 5, France
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Abstract

The occurrence of large individuals in fluctuating populations of microtine rodents (the Chitty effect) has received considerable attention. Recent studies showed that there are no causal relationships between the Chitty effect and the multi-annual population cycles of voles and lemmings. We studied five populations of Microtus duodecimcostatus in southern France with capture-recapture methods. Mean body mass was constant in all populations. Maximum observed body mass was more variable, and slightly positively correlated with density, except in the most fluctuating population where the correlation was strong. A careful study of the occurrence of large voles in these populations showed that most were pregnant females, and that the few large males were present when density was high and sample sizes were large. Comparison with published studies indicates that the Chitty effect, though not restricted to microtines, is not a general phenomenon in small mammal populations. Our field results and laboratory data on the same species suggest that M. duodecimcostatus has a determinate body growth, contrary to some Microtus species which have an indeterminate growth.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
1998 The Zoological Society of London

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