Population dynamics of the Mongolian gerbils: Seasonal patterns and interactions among density, reproduction and climate

Liu, W.; Wan, Xiaofeng; Zhong, Wenqin

doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2006.07.002

Cited by 50 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Mongolian gerbils fluctuated seasonally in density and population (Liu et al, 2007). The growth rate of the population peaked in early spring and showed a sudden decline from summer to autumn (Liu et al, 2007).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Are small rodents key promoters of ecosystem restoration in harsh environments? A case study of abandoned croplands on Mongolian grasslands

Yoshihara

Okuro

Jamsran

et al. 2009

Journal of Arid Environments

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The growth rate of the population peaked in early spring and showed a sudden decline from summer to autumn (Liu et al, 2007). These rodents prefer the green parts of plants (Y. Yoshihara, personal observation), but they have no choice but to eat dead litter in the early spring, when there is no green feed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are small rodents key promoters of ecosystem restoration in harsh environments? A case study of abandoned croplands on Mongolian grasslands

Yoshihara

Okuro

Jamsran

et al. 2009

Journal of Arid Environments

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“…Both measurements were treated as proxy variables for certain processes acting on the demography of the species under study. In arid and semi-arid environments, rainfall is often used as a surrogate measure for primary production generally thought to be connected to both food and shelter availability for small mammals (Brown and Singleton 1999;Dickman et al 1999;Liu et al 2007). The direct and lagged density of a small mammal species under study is commonly used to examine population (e.g.…”

Section: Cmr Modelling -Program and Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Survival and maturation rates of the African rodent, Mastomys natalensis: density‐dependence and rainfall

Sluydts

Crespin

Davis

et al. 2007

Integrative Zoology

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Survival and maturation rates of female Mastomys natalensis were analysed based on a ten-year monthly capture-recapture data set. We investigated whether direct and delayed density dependent and independent (rainfall) variables accounted for the considerable variation in demographic traits. It was estimated that seasonal and annual covariates accounted for respectively 29 and 26% of the total variation in maturation rates and respectively 17 and 11% of the variation in survival rates. Explaining the between-year differences in maturation rates with annual past rainfall or density did not improve the model fit. On the other hand we showed that maturation rates were correlated negatively with density the previous month and positively to cumulative rainfall over the past three months. Survival estimates of both adults and subadults varied seasonally, with higher estimates during the increase phase (dry season). The subadults were characterised by a very high survival rate (> 0.95) during this phase. In the decrease phase only minor differences were found between survival rates of subadults and adults. We found that 39% of the between-year variation in survival can be explained by accumulated rainfall over the past year.

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“…Meriones unguiculatus (Alston,1876), commonly called the Mongolian gerbil, is primarily distributed in the desert, grasslands, and agricultural fields of Inner Mongolia of China, Mongolia, and Russia (Liu et al, 2007). In the laboratory, M. unguiculatus has been widely used as an animal model for human disease.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phylogenetic analysis of the Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus) from China based on mitochondrial genome

Gao

et al. 2016

Genet. Mol. Res.

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ABSTRACT. Meriones unguiculatus (Gerbillinae, Rodentia) is widely used as an animal model of human disease. Here, we provide the first report of the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of M. unguiculatus (GenBank accession Nos. KF425526 and NC_023263). The sequence contained the conserved vertebrate pattern of 13 proteincoding genes, 2 ribosomal RNAs, 22 transfer RNAs, and 1 major noncoding region. We identified one extended termination-associated sequence and one conserved sequence block in the non-coding region. The putative origin of replication for the light strand (O L ) was 35 bp long. The O L stem and adjacent sequences were highly conserved, but the loop region differed from those of other rodent species. Base composition and codon usage of the 13 protein-coding genes in M. unguiculatus were compared with those of 23 rodent species with previously sequenced mitochondrial genomes. An A+T content of 63.0% was present in M. unguiculatus; this is similar to the Murinae average (62.4 ± 0.8%) and falls between the average for Mus musculus (63.1 ± 0.1%) and Rattus sp (61.7 ± 0.4%). The AT and GC skew values of M. unguiculatus were 0.035 and -0.28, respectively, similar to those of Cricetinae species (0.057 ± 0.05 and -0.31 ± 0.05). The codon families exhibited similar abundance in all 24 species. Analysis of phylogenetic relationships with 23 other rodent species using neighbor-joining and maximum likelihood protocols and the 12 protein-coding regions on the H strand showed that M. unguiculatus should be classified as genus Meriones, sub-family Gerbillinae, family Muridae.

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Population dynamics of the Mongolian gerbils: Seasonal patterns and interactions among density, reproduction and climate

Cited by 50 publications

References 27 publications

Are small rodents key promoters of ecosystem restoration in harsh environments? A case study of abandoned croplands on Mongolian grasslands

Are small rodents key promoters of ecosystem restoration in harsh environments? A case study of abandoned croplands on Mongolian grasslands

Survival and maturation rates of the African rodent, Mastomys natalensis: density‐dependence and rainfall

Phylogenetic analysis of the Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus) from China based on mitochondrial genome

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