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Diet Quality Limits Summer Growth of Field Vole Populations

Marked variation occurs in both seasonal and multiannual population density peaks of northern European small mammal species, including voles. The availability of dietary proteins is a key factor limiting the population growth of herbivore species. The objective of this study is to investigate the de...

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Autores principales: Forbes, Kristian M., Stuart, Peter, Mappes, Tapio, Hoset, Katrine S., Henttonen, Heikki, Huitu, Otso
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3951337/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24621513
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0091113
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author Forbes, Kristian M.
Stuart, Peter
Mappes, Tapio
Hoset, Katrine S.
Henttonen, Heikki
Huitu, Otso
author_facet Forbes, Kristian M.
Stuart, Peter
Mappes, Tapio
Hoset, Katrine S.
Henttonen, Heikki
Huitu, Otso
author_sort Forbes, Kristian M.
collection PubMed
description Marked variation occurs in both seasonal and multiannual population density peaks of northern European small mammal species, including voles. The availability of dietary proteins is a key factor limiting the population growth of herbivore species. The objective of this study is to investigate the degree to which protein availability influences the growth of increasing vole populations. We hypothesise that the summer growth of folivorous vole populations is positively associated with dietary protein availability. A field experiment was conducted over a summer reproductive period in 18 vegetated enclosures. Populations of field voles (Microtus agrestis) were randomised amongst three treatment groups: 1) food supplementation with ad libitum high protein (30% dry weight) pellets, 2) food supplementation with ad libitum low protein (1% dry weight; both supplemented foods had equivalent energy content) pellets, and 3) control (no food supplementation), n = 6 per treatment. Vole density, survival, demographic attributes and condition indicators were monitored with live-trapping and blood sampling. Highest final vole densities were attained in populations that received high protein supplementation and lowest in low protein populations. Control populations displayed intermediate densities. The survival rate of voles was similar in all treatment groups. The proportion of females, and of those that were pregnant or lactating, was highest in the high protein supplemented populations. This suggests that variation in reproductive, rather than survival rates of voles, accounted for density differences between the treatment groups. We found no clear association between population demography and individual physiological condition. Our results demonstrate that dietary protein availability limits vole population growth during the summer growing season. This suggests that the nutritional quality of forage may be an underestimated source of interannual variation in the density and growth rates of widely fluctuating populations of herbivorous small mammals.
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spelling pubmed-39513372014-03-13 Diet Quality Limits Summer Growth of Field Vole Populations Forbes, Kristian M. Stuart, Peter Mappes, Tapio Hoset, Katrine S. Henttonen, Heikki Huitu, Otso PLoS One Research Article Marked variation occurs in both seasonal and multiannual population density peaks of northern European small mammal species, including voles. The availability of dietary proteins is a key factor limiting the population growth of herbivore species. The objective of this study is to investigate the degree to which protein availability influences the growth of increasing vole populations. We hypothesise that the summer growth of folivorous vole populations is positively associated with dietary protein availability. A field experiment was conducted over a summer reproductive period in 18 vegetated enclosures. Populations of field voles (Microtus agrestis) were randomised amongst three treatment groups: 1) food supplementation with ad libitum high protein (30% dry weight) pellets, 2) food supplementation with ad libitum low protein (1% dry weight; both supplemented foods had equivalent energy content) pellets, and 3) control (no food supplementation), n = 6 per treatment. Vole density, survival, demographic attributes and condition indicators were monitored with live-trapping and blood sampling. Highest final vole densities were attained in populations that received high protein supplementation and lowest in low protein populations. Control populations displayed intermediate densities. The survival rate of voles was similar in all treatment groups. The proportion of females, and of those that were pregnant or lactating, was highest in the high protein supplemented populations. This suggests that variation in reproductive, rather than survival rates of voles, accounted for density differences between the treatment groups. We found no clear association between population demography and individual physiological condition. Our results demonstrate that dietary protein availability limits vole population growth during the summer growing season. This suggests that the nutritional quality of forage may be an underestimated source of interannual variation in the density and growth rates of widely fluctuating populations of herbivorous small mammals. Public Library of Science 2014-03-12 /pmc/articles/PMC3951337/ /pubmed/24621513 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0091113 Text en © 2014 Forbes et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Forbes, Kristian M.
Stuart, Peter
Mappes, Tapio
Hoset, Katrine S.
Henttonen, Heikki
Huitu, Otso
Diet Quality Limits Summer Growth of Field Vole Populations
title Diet Quality Limits Summer Growth of Field Vole Populations
title_full Diet Quality Limits Summer Growth of Field Vole Populations
title_fullStr Diet Quality Limits Summer Growth of Field Vole Populations
title_full_unstemmed Diet Quality Limits Summer Growth of Field Vole Populations
title_short Diet Quality Limits Summer Growth of Field Vole Populations
title_sort diet quality limits summer growth of field vole populations
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3951337/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24621513
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0091113
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