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Population sex-ratio affecting behavior and physiology of overwintering bank voles (Myodes glareolus)

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Sipari, S., Haapakoski, M., Klemme, I., Palme, R., Sundell, J., & Ylönen, H. (2016). Population sex-ratio affecting behavior and physiology of overwintering bank voles (Myodes glareolus). Physiology and Behavior, 159, 45-51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2016.03.008
Published in
Physiology and Behavior
Authors
Sipari, Saana |
Haapakoski, Marko |
Klemme, Ines |
Palme, Rupert |
Sundell, Janne |
Ylönen, Hannu
Date
2016
Discipline
Ekologia ja evoluutiobiologiaEcology and Evolutionary Biology
Copyright
© 2016 Elsevier Inc. This is a final draft version of an article whose final and definitive form has been published by Elsevier. Published in this repository with the kind permission of the publisher.

 
Many boreal rodents are territorial during the breeding season but during winter become social and aggregate for more energy efficient thermoregulation. Communal winter nesting and social interactions are considered to play an important role for the winter survival of these species, yet the topic is relatively little explored. Females are suggested to be the initiators of winter aggregations and sometimes reported to survive better than males. This could be due to the higher social tolerance observed in overwintering females than males. Hormonal status could also affect winter behavior and survival. For instance, chronic stress can have a negative effect on survival, whereas high gonadal hormone levels, such as testosterone, often induce aggressive behavior. To test if the winter survival of females in a boreal rodent is better than that of males, and to assess the role of females in the winter aggregations, we generated bank vole (Myodes glareolus) populations of three different sex ratios (male-biased, female-biased and even density) under semi-natural conditions. We monitored survival, spatial behavior and hormonal status (stress and testosterone) during two winter months. We observed no significant differences in survival between the sexes or among populations with differing sex-ratios. The degree of movement area overlap was used as an indicator of social tolerance and potential communal nesting. Individuals in male biased populations showed a tendency to be solitary, whereas in female biased populations there was an indication of winter aggregation. Females living in male-biased populations had higher stress levels than the females from the other populations. The female-biased sex-ratio induced winter breeding and elevated testosterone levels in males. Thus, our results suggest that the sex-ratio of the overwintering population can lead to divergent overwintering strategies in bank voles. ...
Publisher
Elsevier Inc.; International Behavioral Neuroscience Society
ISSN Search the Publication Forum
0031-9384
Keywords
overwintering winter aggregation social interactions population sex-ratio hormonal status talvehtiminen metsämyyrä henkiinjääminen
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2016.03.008
URI

http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-201606062904

Publication in research information system

https://converis.jyu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/25595553

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