Delayed maturation in female bank voles: optimal decision or social constraint?

Prévot‐Julliard, Anne‐Caroline; Henttonen, Heikki; Yoccoz, Nigel G.; Stenseth, Nils Chr.

doi:10.1046/j.1365-2656.1999.00307.x

Cited by 120 publications

(131 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…Prévot-Julliard et al 1999;Yoccoz et al 2000;Ergon et al 2001b;Norrdahl & Korpimäki 2002a,b;Koivula et al 2003). In general, the effects of food supply on life-history traits of vertebrates are poorly understood.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex–biased maternal investment in voles: importance of environmental conditions

Koskela

Huitu

Koivula

et al. 2004

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

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Adaptive bias in sex allocation is traditionally proposed to be related to the condition of mothers as well as to the unequal fitness values of produced sexes. A positive relationship between mother condition and investment into male offspring is often predicted. This relationship was also recently found to depend on environmental conditions. We studied these causalities experimentally using a design where winter food supply was manipulated in eight outdoor-enclosed populations of field voles Microtus agrestis. At the beginning of the breeding season in spring, food-supplemented mothers seemed to be in a similar condition, measured as body mass, head width, body condition index and parasite load (blood parasite Trypanosoma), to non-supplemented mothers. Food supplements affected neither the litter size, the reproductive effort of mothers, nor the litter sex ratios at birth. However, food supplementation significantly increased the birth size of male offspring and improved their condition, as indicated by reduced parasite loads (intestinal Eimeria). Interestingly, mothers in good body condition produced larger male offspring only when environmental conditions were improved by food supplements. Although the adaptiveness of variation in mammalian sex ratios is still questionable, our study indicates that mothers in good condition bias their investment towards male offspring, but only when environmental conditions are favourable.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex–biased maternal investment in voles: importance of environmental conditions

Koskela

Huitu

Koivula

et al. 2004

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

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“…In Finland, females give birth to up to four litters with 4-8 pups per litter during the breeding season (May-September; Koivula et al 2003). Although bank voles are able to mature soon after weaning (3-4 weeks old), usually only females of the first cohort mature during the summer they are born, whereas others delay breeding to the next year (Mappes et al 1995;Tkadlec & Zejda 1998;Prévot-Julliard et al 1999). The age at first reproduction is important for the overall fitness of bank voles (Prévot-Julliard et al 1999;Oksanen et al 2002).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although bank voles are able to mature soon after weaning (3-4 weeks old), usually only females of the first cohort mature during the summer they are born, whereas others delay breeding to the next year (Mappes et al 1995;Tkadlec & Zejda 1998;Prévot-Julliard et al 1999). The age at first reproduction is important for the overall fitness of bank voles (Prévot-Julliard et al 1999;Oksanen et al 2002). The bank vole populations show seasonal and multiannual fluctuations in the population density in northern Fennoscandia (Hansson & Henttonen 1985 Oksanen et al (2002).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maternal antibodies postpone hantavirus infection and enhance individual breeding success

et al. 2006

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The transfer of maternal antibodies from mother to progeny is a well-known phenomenon in avian and mammalian species. Optimally, they protect the newborn against the pathogens in the environment. The effect of maternal antibodies on microparasite transmission dynamics may have important consequences for both the fitness of the host and the epizootic processes of the pathogens. However, there is a scarcity of studies examining these effects in free-living wild species. We studied the influence of maternal antibodies against the zoonotic Puumala hantavirus (PUUV) on the fitness of bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus) and on PUUV transmission by exposing young maternal antibody-positive (MatAbC) and negative (MatAbK) bank voles (nZ160) to PUUV in experimental populations. PUUV-specific maternal antibodies delayed the timing of infection. Females were more susceptible to PUUV infection than males. Interestingly, both the females and the males with maternal antibodies matured earlier than the other individuals in the population. Our results highlight the significance of maternal antibodies in the transmission of a pathogen and in the breeding success of the carriers.

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“…Therefore, the juvenile cohort was removed from the dataset. Typically, smallmammal biologists distinguish juveniles from older individuals on the basis of body weight (sometimes in combination with pelage characteristics; Prevot-Julliard et al, 1999). We considered as juveniles and excluded all voles weighing #13 g (70 females and 55 males; see also Crespin et al, 2002).…”

Section: Capture-mark-recapture Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Puumala Virus Infection on Maturation and Survival in Bank Voles: A Capture-Mark-Recapture Analysis

Tersago

Crespin

Verhagen

et al. 2012

Journal of Wildlife Diseases

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ABSTRACT:Many zoonotic diseases are caused by rodent-borne viruses. Major fluctuations in the transmission of these viruses have been related to large changes in reservoir host population numbers due to external factors. However, the impact of the pathogen itself on the demography of its reservoir host is often overlooked. We investigated the impact of Puumala virus (PUUV) on survival and reproductive maturation probability of its reservoir host, the bank vole (Myodes glareolus). Three years (2004-06) of data from nine independent sites in southern Belgium were collected and analyzed with a capture-mark-recapture (CMR) method that includes statistical correction for the variation in capture probability of voles. A multistate model based on four states of reproductive activity and PUUV immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody status was used to estimate survival and probability of transition from one reproductive or infection state to another. Although survival estimates for reproductively active voles were similar between infected and noninfected individuals, PUUV infection in reproductively inactive voles decreased mean monthly survival by 14%. PUUV infection was associated with a threefold increase in the probability of reproductive maturation in bank voles. Moreover, the probability of PUUV IgG seroconversion was three times higher for reproductively active voles compared to reproductively inactive voles. Our model indicates that PUUV infection may alter bank vole population dynamics by affecting both survival and maturation in its host. Additional studies, using CMR methodology with shorter time intervals between trapping sessions and possibly a longer duration, are needed to confirm these findings.

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Delayed maturation in female bank voles: optimal decision or social constraint?

Cited by 120 publications

References 61 publications

Sex–biased maternal investment in voles: importance of environmental conditions

Sex–biased maternal investment in voles: importance of environmental conditions

Maternal antibodies postpone hantavirus infection and enhance individual breeding success

Impact of Puumala Virus Infection on Maturation and Survival in Bank Voles: A Capture-Mark-Recapture Analysis

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