Long-term effects of infant malnutrition on the behaviour of adult meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus

Abstract

WONG, K. L., and BONDRUP-NIELSEN, S. 1992. Long-term effects of infant malnutrition on the behaviour of adult meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus. Can. J . Zool. 70: 1304 -1308. Several studies on laboratory mice and rats have shown that malnutrition during infancy has a variety of long-term effects extending into adulthood. These effects are manifested in reproduction, including reduced litter sizes, reduced growth rates of the young, and skewed sex ratios, and in behaviour, including increased nervousness, decreased problem-solving ability, and reduced pup retrieval to the nest by the mother. This study investigated the effects of early malnutrition on behaviour in adult meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus. Experimental animals received a standard diet diluted with pure cornstarch (1 part standard diet to 2 parts pure cornstarch) through their mothers during lactation and directly for 3 weeks postweaning. Control individuals always received the standard diet ad libitum. The cumulative duration of 13 behaviours was measured in 10-min trial periods and compared between experimental and control animals. Experimental females differed from control females in a number'of behaviours, especially those involving high activity levels, whereas experimental and control males showed little difference in the behaviours performed. The behaviour profile of previously malnourished females was similar to those of both control and experimental males. Increased activity, resulting from poor nutrition, may have consequences for dispersal and spacing behaviour . WONG, K. L., et BONDRUP-NIELSEN, S. 1992. Long-term effects of infant malnutrition on the behaviour of adult meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus. Can. J . Zool. 70: 1304 -1308. Plusieurs Ctudes sur les souris et les rats de laboratoire ont dCmontrC que la malnutrition au cours du jeune Age entraine une kyrielle d'effets a long terme a l'ige adulte, notamment sur la reproduction, portCes plus petites, croissance ralentie des petits, rapports miles : femelles dCsCquilibrCs, et sur le comportement, nervositC accrue, capaciti moins grande de faire face a des problkmes, rCduction de la rCcupCration des petits dans le nid. Nous avons CtudiC les effets d'une malnutrition au cours du jeune i g e sur le comportement d'adultes du Campagnol des champs, Microtus pennsylvanicus. Les animaux expkrimentaux ont Ct C soumis a un rCgime standard diluC avec de la fCcule de mays pure (1 partie de regime et 2 parties de fkcule), par le lait de leur mkre au cours de l'allaitement, puis directement durant 3 semaines aprks le sevrage. Les individus tCmoins ont toujours r e p le rCgime standard ad libitum. La durCe cumulative de 13 comportements a CtC mesurCe au cours de pCriodes de 10 minutes et comparke chez les animaux expkrimentaux et les animaux tCmoins. Les femelles experimentales diffkrent des femelles tCmoins dans plusieurs de leurs comportements, particulikrement ceux qui requikrent une grande activitC, alors que les miles des deux groupes ont des comportements semblables. Le comporte...

Effects of individual condition and habitat quality on natal dispersal behaviour in a small rodent

“…Moreover, we had a good statistical power to detect the interaction between condition and habitat quality treatments, as critical effect sizes were similar to changes in dispersal behaviour observed in previous studies (Andreassen, Hertzberg & Ims 1998). This result is in sharp contrast with dispersal patterns in other small rodents, where malnourished individuals during infancy are more active (Whatson, Smart & Dobbing 1976; Wong & Bondrup‐Nielsen 1992) and more likely to emigrate later in life (Bondrup‐Nielsen 1993). Perhaps conditions experienced before lactation are more important than those experienced after lactation in root voles (see above).…”

Are staged dyadic encounters useful for studying aggressive behaviour of arvicoline rodents?

“…The numerous differences between field and laboratory environments make it difficult to differentiate among factors that may have caused the observed differences in aggressiveness. Although the diet of reproductive females can have longlasting effects on the behaviour of their offspring (Wong and Bondrup-Nielsen 1992), differences in aggressiveness were probably not related to the quality of the diet. Small mammals fed low-quality diets have been shown to be more aggressive than those on standard diets, in both laboratory (Levitsky and Barnes 1972;Randt et al 1975) and field environments (Andreassen and Ims 1990).…”

Influence of maternal food availability on offspring dispersal

“…This result is similar to our maternal feeding effect. However, Wong and Bondrup-Nielsen (1993) obtained the opposite result. Besides working with different species, the studies differed in the type of data collected (observational vs experimental) and the time when food acted in the life cycle (postnatal vs prenatal).…”