Effect of Food Availability and Predation on the Population Dynamics and Spacing Behavior of Prairie Voles
Desy, Elizabeth Anne
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Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/77626
Description
Title
Effect of Food Availability and Predation on the Population Dynamics and Spacing Behavior of Prairie Voles
Author(s)
Desy, Elizabeth Anne
Issue Date
1987
Department of Study
Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology
Discipline
Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Biology, Ecology
Language
eng
Abstract
Microtine rodent (lemmings and voles) populations often undergo seasonal or multi-annual fluctuations in density. Although a number of single factors have been proposed as the causal agent of these fluctuations, no one has demonstrated convincingly that a single-factor mechanism is responsible. Recent studies indicate that three factors, nutrition, predation, and spacing behavior, may act jointly to influence fluctuations in microtine populations. Field studies of microtine populations in which two or more extrinsic factors were experimentally manipulated simultaneously are few. Furthermore, none used a factorial design with replicates to determine individual and interactive effects. In this study, I manipulated food availability and predation and used a factorial design with replicates. I tested the hypothesis that food availability, predation, and spacing behavior interact to limit densities of prairie voles. My results show that supplemental, high-quality food significantly affected density, recruitment, reproductive activity, and body growth rates of voles. In addition, voles in food-supplemented populations were significantly less aggressive towards one another than voles in non-supplemented populations. Predation significantly affected density, recruitment, and on some occasions, adult survival. The only significant food-predator interaction was for body growth rates when presence of predators inhibited the growth response. In conclusion, I demonstrated that both predation and food operate simultaneously, and in an additive manner, to limit densities of prairie voles in east central Illinois. Such interactions should be expected and considerd when analyzing population dynamics of voles.
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