Population ecology of the taiga vole, Microtus xanthognathus, in interior Alaska

Abstract

This study makes important contributions 10 our understanding of the life history and population dynamics or a little-known yet widespread member of the taiga community. A live trapping grid plus supplemental snaptrapping were used for 3 years. Less intensive efforts covered 3 additional years. Reproduction begins when the snow melts and continues to mid-July. Litters average 8.8, each female producing only two liners in a lifetime. Young do not mature in the year of their birth and adults do not survive a second winter. Body weights are reduced during winter and huddling reduces heat loss. In good microhabitat, densities were similar over a 6-year period, but progressively declined in marginal areas. No multiannual cycle was evident. Flank glands are active in both sexes during the reproductive season and for one additional ensuing month. There are two major dispersal periods; one in August dominated by juvenile males, and a second in spring in which both sexes participate equally. Feeding is opportunistic with horsetail, grasses, and berries predominating in summer and stored rhizomes in winter. Primary habitat requirements include a source of storable rhizomes for winter and good burrowing conditions. These resource needs explain the species' predilection for riparian forest edge and lightly burned forest.