Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year Filter | PMID(sorted descending) Filter |
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| evolutionary relationships of ljungan virus variants circulating in multi-host systems across europe. | the picornavirus named 'ljungan virus' (lv, species parechovirus b) has been detected in a dozen small mammal species from across europe, but detailed information on its genetic diversity and host specificity is lacking. here, we analyze the evolutionary relationships of lv variants circulating in free-living mammal populations by comparing the phylogenetics of the vp1 region (encoding the capsid protein and associated with lv serotype) and the 3dpol region (encoding the rna polymerase) from 24 ... | 2021 | 34372523 |
| spatial and temporal dynamics and molecular evolution of tula orthohantavirus in german vole populations. | tula orthohantavirus (tulv) is a rodent-borne hantavirus with broad geographical distribution in europe. its major reservoir is the common vole (microtus arvalis), but tulv has also been detected in closely related vole species. given the large distributional range and high amplitude population dynamics of common voles, this host-pathogen complex presents an ideal system to study the complex mechanisms of pathogen transmission in a wild rodent reservoir. we investigated the dynamics of tulv prev ... | 2021 | 34208398 |
| hantavirus-leptospira coinfections in small mammals from central germany. | european orthohantaviruses (puumala orthohantavirus (puuv); dobrava-belgrade orthohantavirus (dobv), genotype kurkino; tula orthohantavirus (tulv)), and leptospira spp. are small mammal-associated zoonotic pathogens that cause diseases with potentially similar symptoms in humans. we investigated the frequency of leptospira spp. and hantavirus single and double infections in small mammals from 22 sites in thuringia, central germany, during 2017. tulv infections were detected at 18 of 22 sites (me ... | 2021 | 33612134 |
| zoonotic viruses in three species of voles from poland. | rodents are known to be reservoir hosts for a plethora of zoonotic viruses and therefore play a significant role in the dissemination of these pathogens. we trapped three vole species (microtus arvalis, alexandromys oeconomus and microtus agrestis) in northeastern poland, all of which are widely distributed species in europe. using immunofluorescence assays, we assessed serum samples for the presence of antibodies to hantaviruses, arenaviruses and cowpox viruses (cpxv). we detected antibodies ag ... | 2020 | 33036253 |
| identification of a novel hantavirus strain in the root vole (microtus oeconomus) in lithuania, eastern europe. | hantaviruses are zoonotic pathogens that can cause subclinical to lethal infections in humans. in europe, five orthohantaviruses are present in rodents: myodes-associated puumala orthohantavirus (puuv), microtus-associated tula orthohantavirus, traemmersee hantavirus (trav)/ tatenale hantavirus (tatv)/ kielder hantavirus, rat-borne seoul orthohantavirus, and apodemus-associated dobrava-belgrade orthohantavirus (dobv). human puuv and dobv infections were detected previously in lithuania, but the ... | 2020 | 32890767 |
| spatial and temporal evolutionary patterns in puumala orthohantavirus (puuv) s segment. | the s segment of bank vole (clethrionomys glareolus)-associated puumala orthohantavirus (puuv) contains two overlapping open reading frames coding for the nucleocapsid (n) and a non-structural (nss) protein. to identify the influence of bank vole population dynamics on puuv s segment sequence evolution and test for spillover infections in sympatric rodent species, during 2010-2014, 883 bank voles, 357 yellow-necked mice (apodemus flavicollis), 62 wood mice (a. sylvaticus), 149 common voles (micr ... | 2020 | 32650456 |
| transcriptome-wide analysis reveals different categories of response to a standardised immune challenge in a wild rodent. | individuals vary in their immune response and, as a result, some are more susceptible to infectious disease than others. little is known about the nature of this individual variation in natural populations, or which components of immune pathways are most responsible, but defining this underlying landscape of variation is an essential first step to understanding the drivers of this variation and, ultimately, predicting the outcome of infection. we describe transcriptome-wide variation in response ... | 2020 | 32366957 |
| retrieval of the complete coding sequence of the uk-endemic tatenale orthohantavirus reveals extensive strain variation and supports its classification as a novel species. | orthohantaviruses are globally distributed viruses, associated with rodents and other small mammals. however, data on the circulation of orthohantaviruses within the uk, particularly the uk-endemic tatenale virus, is sparse. in this study, 531 animals from five rodent species were collected from two locations in northern and central england and screened using a degenerate, pan- orthohantavirus rt-pcr assay. tatenale virus was detected in a single field vole (microtus agrestis) from central engla ... | 2020 | 32316655 |
| associations between different laelapidae (mesostigmata: dermanyssoidea) mites and small rodents from lithuania. | associations between species of laelapidae (mesostigmata: dermanyssoidea) mites and small rodents have been studied insufficiently. the aim of this study was to investigate infestation patterns of small rodent species by laelapid mites at six locations in lithuania. a total of 728 rodents were snap- and live-trapped in various locations during 2013-2016. eight rodent species were identified, namely apodemus flavicollis, apodemus agrarius, myodes glareolus, micromys minutus, mus musculus, microtu ... | 2020 | 32307619 |
| glacial cycles drive rapid divergence of cryptic field vole species. | understanding the factors that contribute to the generation of reproductively isolated forms is a fundamental goal of evolutionary biology. cryptic species are an especially interesting challenge to study in this context since they lack obvious morphological differentiation that provides clues to adaptive divergence that may drive reproductive isolation. geographical isolation in refugial areas during glacial cycling is known to be important for generating genetically divergent populations, but ... | 2019 | 31938506 |
| discovery and prevalence of divergent rna viruses in european field voles and rabbits. | the advent of unbiased metagenomic virus discovery has revolutionized studies of virus biodiversity and evolution. despite this, our knowledge of the virosphere, including in mammalian species, remains limited. we used unbiased metagenomic sequencing to identify rna viruses in european field voles and rabbits. accordingly, we identified a number of novel rna viruses including astrovirus, rotavirus a, picorna-like virus and a morbilli-like paramyxovirus. in addition, we identified a sobemovirus a ... | 2019 | 31906044 |
| blood parasites (babesia, hepatozoon and trypanosoma) of rodents, lithuania: part i. molecular and traditional microscopy approach. | wild rodents, as natural reservoir hosts carrying various species of pathogens, play an important role in the evolution and emergence of zoonotic diseases. in this study, protist parasites, namely babesia sp., trypanosoma sp. and hepatozoon sp. were studied in rodent populations in lithuania. two hundred forty rodent specimens of seven species were analysed by a combined approach using polymerase chain reaction (pcr)-based techniques and traditional microscopic examination. the total prevalence ... | 2020 | 31897793 |
| small mammal responses to long-term large-scale woodland creation: the influence of local and landscape-level attributes. | habitat loss and fragmentation greatly affect biological diversity. actions to counteract their negative effects include increasing the quality, amount and connectivity of seminatural habitats at the landscape scale. however, much of the scientific evidence underpinning landscape restoration comes from studies of habitat loss and fragmentation, and it is unclear whether the ecological principles derived from habitat removal investigations are applicable to habitat creation. in addition, the rela ... | 2020 | 31670888 |
| field vole-associated traemmersee hantavirus from germany represents a novel hantavirus species. | vole-associated hantaviruses occur in the old and new world. tula orthohantavirus (tulv) is widely distributed throughout the european continent in its reservoir, the common vole (microtus arvalis), but the virus was also frequently detected in field voles (microtus agrestis) and other vole species. tulv and common voles are absent from great britain. however, field voles there harbor tatenale and kielder hantaviruses. here we screened 126 field voles and 13 common voles from brandenburg, german ... | 2019 | 31573059 |
| a new focus of the tick haemaphysalis concinna in western poland. | the relict tick haemaphysalis concinna has a fragmented and focal distribution in central europe and asia. although in the majority of neighboring countries the occurrence of this tick species is well-documented (i.e., in germany, czech republic, slovakia, ukraine), to-date its occurrence in poland has been registered only once, in 1953 in troszyn in north-western pomerania, close to the german-polish border. in the present study we report the first documented finding of h. concinna in western p ... | 2019 | 31115732 |
| assisted reproductive technologies in microtus genus. | microtus genus is one of the experimental animals showing unique characteristics, and some species have been used as various research models. in order to advance the utilization of microtus genus, the development of assisted reproductive technologies (arts) is a key point. this review introduces recent progress in the development of arts for microtus genus, especially microtus montebelli (japanese field vole). | 2019 | 30996675 |
| shared common ancestry of rodent alphacoronaviruses sampled globally. | the recent discovery of novel alphacoronaviruses (alpha-covs) in european and asian rodents revealed that rodent coronaviruses (covs) sampled worldwide formed a discrete phylogenetic group within this genus. to determine the evolutionary history of rodent covs in more detail, particularly the relative frequencies of virus-host co-divergence and cross-species transmission, we recovered longer fragments of cov genomes from previously discovered european rodent alpha-covs using a combination of pcr ... | 2019 | 30704076 |
| exposure of non-target small mammals to anticoagulant rodenticide during chemical rodent control operations. | the extensive use of anticoagulant rodenticides (ars) results in widespread unintentional exposure of non-target rodents and secondary poisoning of predators despite regulatory measures to manage and reduce exposure risk. to elucidate on the potential vectoring of ars into surrounding habitats by non-target small mammals, we determined bromadiolone prevalence and concentrations in rodents and shrews near bait boxes during an experimental application of the poison for 2 weeks. overall, bromadiolo ... | 2019 | 30617892 |
| evaluating metabarcoding to analyse diet composition of species foraging in anthropogenic landscapes using ion torrent and illumina sequencing. | dna metabarcoding of faecal samples is being successfully used to study the foraging niche of species. we assessed the ability of two benchtop high-throughput sequencing (hts) platforms, to identify a large taxonomic array of food items from domestic cats felis silvestris catus, including prey and human-related food taxa (pet food and leftovers leaving undetectable solid remains in faeces). scats from a captive feeding trial (n = 41) and from free-ranging individuals (n = 326) were collected and ... | 2018 | 30459313 |
| detection of francisella tularensis in three vole species in central europe. | francisella tularensis is a zoonotic, gram-negative bacterium that causes tularemia in humans. depending on its subspecies and the route of transmission, mild to lethal courses have been reported. f. tularensis subsp. holarctica is the only subspecies found in europe and affects a plenitude of vertebrates including lagomorphs and rodents. population outbreaks of certain rodent species are likely to be involved in the transmission of this pathogen. this molecular survey aims to evaluate the prese ... | 2019 | 30447176 |
| population-level manipulations of field vole densities induce subsequent changes in plant quality but no impacts on vole demography. | grazing-induced changes in plant quality have been suggested to drive the negative delayed density dependence exhibited by many herbivore species, but little field evidence exists to support this hypothesis. we tested a key premise of the hypothesis that reciprocal feedback between vole grazing pressure and the induction of anti-herbivore silicon defenses in grasses drives observed population cycles in a large-scale field experiment in northern england. we repeatedly reduced population densities ... | 2018 | 30250660 |
| the intrinsic vulnerability of networks to epidemics. | contact networks are convenient models to investigate epidemics, with nodes and links representing potential hosts and infection pathways, respectively. the outcomes of outbreak simulations on networks are driven both by the underlying epidemic model, and by the networks' structural properties, so that the same pathogen can generate different epidemic dynamics on different networks. here we ask whether there are general properties that make a contact network intrinsically vulnerable to epidemics ... | 2018 | 30210182 |
| bartonella infections in three species of microtus: prevalence and genetic diversity, vertical transmission and the effect of concurrent babesia microti infection on its success. | bartonella spp. cause persistent bacterial infections in mammals. although these bacteria are transmitted by blood-feeding arthropods, there is also evidence for vertical transmission in their mammalian hosts. we aimed to determine: (i) the prevalence and diversity of bartonella spp. in a microtus spp. community; (ii) whether vertical transmission occurs from infected female voles to their offspring; (iii) the effect of concurrent babesia microti infection on the success of vertical transmission ... | 2018 | 30165879 |
| new records for anaplasma phagocytophilum infection in small mammal species. | tick-borne diseases pose a major threat in public health. the epidemiological dynamics of these diseases depends on the tick vector species and their hosts, as well as the geographical distribution and ecology of both. among many possible hosts for ticks, small mammals have a major role in the development of immature stages of several tick species. small mammals are also important reservoir hosts for several pathogenic agents and possible reservoirs for anaplasma phagocytophilum. in this context ... | 2018 | 29558990 |
| physiological, but not fitness, effects of two interacting haemoparasitic infections in a wild rodent. | in contrast to the conditions in most laboratory studies, wild animals are routinely challenged by multiple infections simultaneously, and these infections can interact in complex ways. this means that the impact of a parasite on its host's physiology and fitness cannot be fully assessed in isolation, and requires consideration of the interactions with other co-infections. here we examine the impact of two common blood parasites in the field vole (microtus agrestis): babesia microti and bartonel ... | 2018 | 29476867 |
| leptospira genomospecies and sequence type prevalence in small mammal populations in germany. | leptospirosis is a worldwide emerging infectious disease caused by zoonotic bacteria of the genus leptospira. numerous mammals, including domestic and companion animals, can be infected by leptospira spp., but rodents and other small mammals are considered the main reservoir. the annual number of recorded human leptospirosis cases in germany (2001-2016) was 25-166. field fever outbreaks in strawberry pickers, due to infection with leptospira kirschneri serovar grippotyphosa, were reported in 200 ... | 2018 | 29470107 |
| microtus arvalis and arvicola scherman: key players in the echinococcus multilocularis life cycle. | a broad range of rodent species are described as potential intermediate hosts for echinococcus multilocularis, a wide-spread zoonotic cestode causing alveolar echinococcosis. however, little is known about the relative contribution of these species for parasite reproduction and the maintenance of its life cycle. in a comparative study in a high endemic region in zurich, switzerland, we investigated prevalence rates and fertility of e. multilocularis in the most abundant vole species as well as t ... | 2017 | 29326950 |
| a candidate tolerance gene identified in a natural population of field voles (microtus agrestis). | the animal immune response has hitherto been viewed primarily in the context of resistance only. however, individuals, can also employ a tolerance strategy to maintain good health in the face of on-going infection. to shed light on the genetic and physiological basis of tolerance, we use a natural population of field voles, microtus agrestis, to search for an association between the expression of the transcription factor gata3, previously identified as a marker of tolerance in this system, and p ... | 2017 | 29290094 |
| seasonal shift of diet in bank voles explains trophic fate of anthropogenic osmium? | diet shifts are common in mammals and birds, but little is known about how such shifts along the food web affect contaminant exposure. voles are staple food for many mammalian and avian predators. there is therefore a risk of transfer of contaminants accumulated in voles within the food chain. osmium is one of the rarest earth elements with osmium tetroxide (oso4) as the most toxic vapor-phase airborne contaminant. anthropogenic oso4 accumulates in fruticose lichens that are important winter foo ... | 2017 | 29079088 |
| intrachromosomal rearrangements in rodents from the perspective of comparative region-specific painting. | it has long been hypothesized that chromosomal rearrangements play a central role in different evolutionary processes, particularly in speciation and adaptation. interchromosomal rearrangements have been extensively mapped using chromosome painting. however, intrachromosomal rearrangements have only been described using molecular cytogenetics in a limited number of mammals, including a few rodent species. this situation is unfortunate because intrachromosomal rearrangements are more abundant tha ... | 2017 | 28867774 |
| from the animal house to the field: are there consistent individual differences in immunological profile in wild populations of field voles (microtus agrestis)? | inbred mouse strains, living in simple laboratory environments far removed from nature, have been shown to vary consistently in their immune response. however, wildlife populations are typically outbreeding and face a multiplicity of challenges, parasitological and otherwise. in this study we seek evidence of consistent difference in immunological profile amongst individuals in the wild. we apply a novel method in this context, using longitudinal (repeated capture) data from natural populations ... | 2017 | 28817724 |
| dampening of population cycles in voles affects small mammal community structure, decreases diversity, and increases prevalence of a zoonotic disease. | long-term decline and depression of density in cyclic small rodents is a recent widespread phenomenon. these observed changes at the population level might have cascading effects at the ecosystem level. here, we assessed relationships between changing boreal landscapes and biodiversity changes of small mammal communities. we also inferred potential effects of observed community changes for increased transmission risk of puumala virus (puuv) spread, causing the zoonotic disease nephropatica epide ... | 2017 | 28770071 |
| a contact zone with noncoincident clines for sex-specific markers in the field vole (microtus agrestis). | a field vole (microtus agrestis) population characterized by unique mitochondrial dna (mtdna) and y chromosome markers occurs in southwest sweden. a contact zone between this lund (lu) population and a standard (st) population was examined with two sex-specific genetic markers. the field vole mtdna and y chromosome clines display a remarkable lack of coincidence, rarely observed in contact zones. the cline width for both markers is about 50 km, but the two clines are displaced from each other: t ... | 1997 | 28568796 |
| mitochondrial dna variation in the field vole (microtus agrestis): regional population structure and colonization history. | restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of mitochondrial dna (mtdna) was used to examine the genetic structure among field voles (microtus agrestis) from southern and central sweden. a total of 57 haplotypes was identified in 158 voles from 60 localities. overall mtdna diversity was high, but both haplotype and nucleotide diversity exhibited pronounced geographic heterogeneity. phylogenetic analyses revealed a shallow tree with seven primary mtdna lineages separated by sequence diverge ... | 1996 | 28565579 |
| dynamics and trophic interactions of small rodents: landscape or regional effects on spatial variation? | geographically varying rodent dynamics may be due to specific landscape effects or to regional variation. two common vole species (clethrionomys glareolus and microtus agrestis), their main predators and their impact on some important food items were monitored in sweden on forest clearcuts in two different landscape types, situated in two different regions with different climatic conditions. censuses, with 10-16 clearcuts in each landscape and both landscapes in the two regions, were designed to ... | 2002 | 28547149 |
| changes in individual quality during a 3-year population cycle of voles. | in small mammal populations with multiannual oscillations in density, the occurrence of large individuals in the peak phase (the "chitty effect") is a typical feature, but mechanisms behind this phenomenon have remained unclear. we analysed long-term data sets collected in western finland between 1984 and 1992 to: (1) find out how the body size and body condition of voles (microtus agrestis, m. rossiaemeridionalis, clethrionomys glareolus) and shrews (sorex araneus) was associated with the 3-yea ... | 2002 | 28547147 |
| choice of voles among genotypes of birch seedlings: its relationship with seedling quality and preference of insects. | selective feeding by herbivores on establishing seedlings has been suggested to affect genotype frequencies in several plant populations. the existence of genotypes susceptible to herbivores calls for an explanation in such populations. in the present study we assessed the choice of multiple herbivores, field voles (microtus agrestis) and insects, among genotypes of silver birch (betula pendula) representing variation occurring in a naturally regenerated stand. we examined how food choice of vol ... | 2002 | 28547050 |
| endemic hantavirus in field voles, northern england. | we report a pcr survey of hantavirus infection in an extensive field vole (microtus agrestis) population present in the kielder forest, northern england. a tatenale virus-like lineage was frequently detected (≈17% prevalence) in liver tissue. lineages genetically similar to tatenale virus are likely to be endemic in northern england. | 2017 | 28518021 |
| yersinia spp. in wild rodents and shrews in finland. | yersinia enterocolitica and yersinia pseudotuberculosis are important zoonotic bacteria causing human enteric yersiniosis commonly reported in europe. all y. pseudotuberculosis strains are considered pathogenic, while y. enterocolitica include both pathogenic and nonpathogenic strains which can be divided into six biotypes (1a, 1b, and 2-5) and about 30 serotypes. the most common types causing yersiniosis in europe are y. enterocolitica bioserotypes 4/o:3 and 2/o:9. strains belonging to biotype ... | 2017 | 28332937 |
| leptospira spp. in small mammals from areas with low and high human hantavirus incidences in south-west germany. | leptospirosis is caused by leptospira spp. and is considered the most widespread zoonotic disease worldwide. it mimics nephropathia epidemica in humans, a disease mainly caused by puumala hantavirus (puuv). small mammals are reservoirs for leptospira spp. and puuv. seewis virus (swsv) is a shrew-borne hantavirus with unknown pathogenicity. the objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence for leptospira spp. and the frequency of leptospira-hantavirus co-infections in small mammals colle ... | 2017 | 28332927 |
| adult philopatry and dispersal in the field vol microtus agrestis. | using mark-recapture data, we related the movements of adult field voles to population density, sex ratio and population growth. dispersal movements (defined as distances larger than 1 home range diameter) were few in both sexes; 4 out of 197 (2.0%) in males and 8 of 316 (2.5%) in females. the distance moved between sequential trapping periods was similar for males and females; the mean being 10.2 m and 9.0 m respectively. both males and females moved larger distances during the breeding season ... | 1991 | 28313195 |
| parental investment related to social systems in microtines. | laboratory offspring of wild-caught voles clethrionomys glareolus and microtus agrestis, bred for 1 year under constant conditions, were examined with regard to sex ratios and weights at weaning and at 2 months of age. c. glareolus exhibits female territoriality and m. agrestis male territoriality in summer. the adults die away in late summer-autumn. early-summer young mature in the year of birth but late-summer young do not reach maturity until the following year. c. glareolus young showed a ma ... | 1992 | 28312884 |
| spatial dynamics in fluctuating vole populations. | patterns and consistency of distribution, spatial and temporal components, and the extent of spatial density-dependence were compared between semi-cyclic and cyclic populations of the vole species clethrionomys glareolus and microtus agrestis in south-central and north sweden. cyclic populations were less clumped and only c. glareolus showed a consistency in distribution between years. spatial variation contributed little to the distributions in cyclic populations while the spatial and temporal ... | 1990 | 28312557 |
| circadian activity patterns, photoperiodic responses and population cycles in voles : i. long-term variations in circadian activity patterns. | patterns of above-ground activity were recorded in two free-ranging populations of microtus agrestis (l.) and one population of m. arvalis (pall.) over several years by means of passage counters. long-term variations of the circadian patterns were observed, but did not repeat themselves in a 12-month cycle. variations in all three populations could be described by a sinusoidal function of an 18-month period. maxima and minima of the sine-function were connected to distinct photoperiods (equinoxe ... | 1987 | 28312229 |
| gradients in density variations of small rodents: the importance of latitude and snow cover. | microtine rodents are known to show extreme population variations (cycles) but non-cyclic populations have also been recognized during recent years. the cyclic populations have been widely thought to be regulated by intrinsic mechanisms. however, such predictions for cyclic populations are usually not applicable to non-cyclic ones and extrinsic factors may have to be included in any explanation.a hypothesis that the degree of fluctuations in small rodent numbers is related to the sustainable num ... | 1985 | 28311574 |
| experiments on habitat selection in voles: implications for the inverse distribution of two common european species. | several pairs of species of microtine rodents show inverse distributions or abundance. here i determine if the inverse abundance relationship of the bank vole clethrionomys glareolus (a forest species) and the field vole microtus agrestis (an open field species) could be explained by habitat selection. habitat selection was examined by choice experiments with combinations of soil and vegetation types, and with separate habitat factors. the effects of early experience and social behaviour were al ... | 1982 | 28310515 |
| cyclic population changes in three mouse species in the same woodland. | in two forest areas of west berlin the population-changes in three mouse species have been investigated over 28 years (1952-1979). significant changes in absolute density have been established for the short-tailed vole (microtus agrestis) at 5-year intervals, for the common vole (microtus arvalis) at 4-year intervals, and for the yellow-necked field mouse (apodemus flavicollis) at 3-year intervals. the investigations were based on a total of 43,535 small vertebrates, 90% of which had been found ... | 1981 | 28309926 |
| interindividual influence on diurnal rhythms of activity in cycling and noncycling populations of the field vole, microtus agrestis l. | the effects of interaction among individuals with respect to wheelrunning activity has been investigated in two geographically separated populations of the field vole microtus agrestis l. in one of them, a northern cyclically varying population, a strictly nocturnal activity pattern is changed into a more or less short term 24 h pattern under conditions of increased contact among individuals. in the other population, south-swedish, without population cycles, no such effects were observed. this i ... | 1978 | 28309735 |
| short-term and circadian rhythms in the behaviour of the vole, microtus agrestis (l.). | the activity behaviour of the vole, microtus agrestis, has been recorded in order to investigate the relationship between short-term rhythm and circadian rhythm. a simple device was developed, allowing separate monitoring of the time spent in or outside the nest, wheel-running, eating and drinking. under natural light conditions during summer, a distinct differentiation between a short term rhythm of eating and drinking during the day-time and a circadian rhythm of wheel-running during the night ... | 1976 | 28308925 |
| effect of the odour of weasels (mustela nivalis l.) on trapped samples of their prey. | the presence of weasel anal gland secretion on rodent live traps substantially depresses population estimate by greatly reducing the catch of microtus agrestis. the catch of apodemus sylvaticus remains almost unaffected. | 1976 | 28308904 |
| does avian predation risk depress reproduction of voles? | reproductive output and the growth of captive voles were quantified under high and low avian predation risk in a semi-natural experiment. voles were exposed to eurasian kestrels (falco tinnunculus), the main avian predator of vole species studied (clethrionomys glareolus, microtus agrestis and m. rossiaemeridionalis). vole pairs were housed in cages settled under nest-boxes occupied by breeding kestrels or in control cages settled under empty nest-boxes for 2 weeks. the experiment was conducted ... | 1998 | 28308445 |
| population growth and habitat distribution in cyclic small rodents: to expand or to change? | habitat selection determined by intraspecific interactions (social behaviour), being either free or despotic, should result in the largest densities in the most favourable habitat at least in late increase and decline phases of cyclic populations. habitat distribution determined by interspecific effects such as herbivore-plant or predator-prey interactions may result in higher densities in inferior habitats at late peaks and/or declines due to overgrazing of preferred habitats, or invasion of su ... | 1997 | 28307483 |
| [an integrated theory of natural control of animal populations]. | since the twenties of our century, at least 15 theories worth discussing have been developped which intend to explain the causes of natural control of animal populations (for details see schwerdtfeger, 1968). an attempt is made to integrate the different-partly contrary-ideas and new results into a general theory. the basis to start from is the cybernetic principle of feed-back mechanism introduced into population dynamics by wilbert (1962): an actual value (e.g. the inside temperature of a refr ... | 1968 | 28306898 |
| the enzootic life-cycle of borrelia burgdorferi (sensu lato) and tick-borne rickettsiae: an epidemiological study on wild-living small mammals and their ticks from saxony, germany. | borrelia burgdorferi (sensu lato) and rickettsiae of the spotted fever group are zoonotic tick-borne pathogens. while small mammals are confirmed reservoirs for certain borrelia spp., little is known about the reservoirs for tick-borne rickettsiae. between 2012 and 2014, ticks were collected from the vegetation and small mammals which were trapped in saxony, germany. dna extracted from ticks and the small mammals' skin was analyzed for the presence of rickettsia spp. and b. burgdorferi (s.l.) by ... | 2017 | 28285593 |
| transmission ecology of taeniid larval cestodes in rodents in sweden, a low endemic area for echinococcus multilocularis. | although local prevalence of echinococcus multilocularis may be high, this zoonotic parasite has an overall low prevalence in foxes and rodents in sweden. to better understand opportunities for e. multilocularis transmission in the swedish environment, the aim of this study was to investigate other taeniid cestodes and to relate observed patterns to e. multilocularis. cestode parasites were examined in fox feces and rodents caught in different habitats from four regions of sweden. arvicola amphi ... | 2017 | 28274289 |
| prevalence, genetic identity and vertical transmission of babesia microti in three naturally infected species of vole, microtus spp. (cricetidae). | vertical transmission is one of the transmission routes for babesia microti, the causative agent of the zoonotic disease, babesiosis. congenital babesia invasions have been recorded in laboratory mice, dogs and humans. the aim of our study was to determine if vertical transmission of b. microti occurs in naturally-infected reservoir hosts of the genus microtus. | 2017 | 28166832 |
| rapid karyotype evolution in lasiopodomys involved at least two autosome - sex chromosome translocations. | the generic status of lasiopodomys and its division into subgenera lasiopodomys (l. mandarinus, l. brandtii) and stenocranius (l. gregalis, l. raddei) are not generally accepted because of contradictions between the morphological and molecular data. to obtain cytogenetic evidence for the lasiopodomys genus and its subgenera and to test the autosome to sex chromosome translocation hypothesis of sex chromosome complex origin in l. mandarinus proposed previously, we hybridized chromosome painting p ... | 2016 | 27936177 |
| support for targeted sampling of red fox (vulpes vulpes) feces in sweden: a method to improve the probability of finding echinococcus multilocularis. | localized concentrations of echinococcus multilocularis eggs from feces of infected red fox (vulpes vulpes) can create areas of higher transmission risk for rodent hosts and possibly also for humans; therefore, identification of these areas is important. however, in a low prevalence environment, such as sweden, these areas could be easily overlooked. as part of a project investigating the role of different rodents in the epidemiology of e. multilocularis in sweden, fox feces were collected seaso ... | 2016 | 27899131 |
| metagenomic evaluation of bacteria from voles. | voles (arvicolinae, rodentia) are known carriers of zoonotic bacteria such as bartonella spp. and francisella tularensis. however, apart from f. tularensis, the bacterial microbiome of voles has not previously been determined in finland and rarely elsewhere. therefore, we studied liver samples from 61 voles using 16s ribosomal rna gene pcr analysis, followed by sanger sequencing. twenty-three of these samples were also studied with tag-encoded pyrosequencing. the samples originated from 21 field ... | 2017 | 27854567 |
| food limitation constrains host immune responses to nematode infections. | trade-offs in the allocation of finite-energy resources among immunological defences and other physiological processes are believed to influence infection risk and disease severity in food-limited wildlife populations. however, this prediction has received little experimental investigation. here we test the hypothesis that food limitation impairs the ability of wild field voles (microtus agrestis) to mount an immune response against parasite infections. we conducted a replicated experiment on vo ... | 2016 | 27677814 |
| generalist predator, cyclic voles and cavity nests: testing the alternative prey hypothesis. | the alternative prey hypothesis (aph) states that when the density of the main prey declines, generalist predators switch to alternative prey and vice versa, meaning that predation pressure on the alternative prey should be negatively correlated with the density of the main prey. we tested the aph in a system comprising one generalist predator (pine marten, martes martes), cyclic main prey (microtine voles, microtus agrestis and myodes glareolus) and alternative prey (cavity nests of common gold ... | 2016 | 27665542 |
| tooth wear as a means to quantify intra-specific variations in diet and chewing movements. | in mammals, tooth function, and its efficiency, depends both on the mechanical properties of the food and on chewing dynamics. these aspects have rarely been studied in combination and/or at the intra-specific level. here we applied 3d dental surface texture analysis to a sample of field voles (microtus agrestis) trapped from finnish lapland at different seasons and localities to test for inter-population variations. we also explored intra-individual variation in chewing dynamics by analysing tw ... | 2016 | 27658531 |
| declining ecosystem health and the dilution effect. | the "dilution effect" implies that where species vary in susceptibility to infection by a pathogen, higher diversity often leads to lower infection prevalence in hosts. for directly transmitted pathogens, non-host species may "dilute" infection directly (1) and indirectly (2). competitors and predators may (1) alter host behavior to reduce pathogen transmission or (2) reduce host density. in a well-studied system, we tested the dilution of the zoonotic puumala hantavirus (puuv) in bank voles (my ... | 2016 | 27499001 |
| anesthetic effects of a combination of medetomidine, midazolam and butorphanol on the production of offspring in japanese field vole, microtus montebelli. | pentobarbital sodium (somnopentyl) can induce surgical anesthesia with a strong hypnotic effect that causes loss of consciousness. animals have been known to die during experimental surgery under anesthesia with somnopentyl, causing it to be declared inadequate as a general anesthetic for single treatment. an anesthetic combination of 0.3 mg/kg medetomidine, 4.0 mg/kg midazolam and 5.0 mg/kg butorphanol (m/m/b:0.3/4/5) was reported to induce anesthesia for a duration of around 40 min in icr mice ... | 2016 | 27238159 |
| long-term population patterns of rodents and associated damage in german forestry. | several rodent species can damage forest trees, especially at young tree age in afforestation. population outbreaks of field voles (microtus agrestis l.) and bank voles (myodes glareolus schreber) in particular can cause losses. | 2017 | 27233231 |
| establishment of superovulation procedure in japanese field vole, microtus montebelli. | japanese field vole (microtus montebelli) is a wild-derived rodent and have unique characteristic. thus, these species have been expected as model animal. this study was performed to develop novel superovulation procedure for japanese field vole. first, when 30 iu pregnant mare's serum gonadotropin (pmsg) and 30 iu human chorionic gonadotropin (hcg) were administrated 48 hours apart, females showed higher response to hcg compared with three concentrations of pmsg. second, to effectively induce o ... | 2016 | 27118387 |
| discovery of novel alphacoronaviruses in european rodents and shrews. | eight hundred and thirteen european rodents and shrews encompassing seven different species were screened for alphacoronaviruses using pcr detection. novel alphacoronaviruses were detected in the species rattus norvegicus, microtus agrestis, sorex araneus and myodes glareolus. these, together with the recently described lucheng virus found in china, form a distinct rodent/shrew-specific clade within the coronavirus phylogeny. across a highly conserved region of the viral polymerase gene, the new ... | 2016 | 27102167 |
| first identification of echinococcus multilocularis in rodent intermediate hosts in sweden. | echinococcus multilocularis is a zoonotic tapeworm with a sylvatic lifecycle and an expanding range in europe. monitoring efforts following its first identification in 2011 in sweden have focused on the parasite's definitive host, the red fox (vulpes vulpes). however, identifying rodent intermediate hosts is important to recognize opportunities for parasite transmission. during 2013-2015, livers from a total of 1566 rodents from four regions in sweden were examined for e. multilocularis metacest ... | 2016 | 27054089 |
| identification of hepatozoon erhardovae krampitz, 1964 from bank voles (myodes glareolus) and fleas in southern hungary. | in order to investigate the prevalence and life cycle of apicomplexan parasites, small mammals were live-trapped with modified sherman traps in southern hungary between 2010 and 2012. altogether, 528 rodents (apodemus flavicollis melchior, 1834, apodemus agrarius pallas, 1771, myodes glareolus schreber, 1780, microtus agrestis linnaeus, 1761, mus musculus linnaeus, 1758 and micromys minutus pallas, 1771) were collected and four shrews (sorex spp.) were by-catched. captured animals belonging to n ... | 2016 | 27003406 |
| food availability and predation risk, rather than intrinsic attributes, are the main factors shaping the reproductive decisions of a long-lived predator. | deciphering the causes of variation in reproductive success is a fundamental issue in ecology, as the number of offspring produced is an important driver of individual fitness and population dynamics. little is known, however, about how different factors interact to drive variation in reproduction, such as whether an individual's response to extrinsic conditions (e.g. food availability or predation) varies according to its intrinsic attributes (e.g. age, previous allocation of resources towards ... | 2016 | 26990178 |
| high genetic structuring of tula hantavirus. | tula virus (tulv) is a vole-associated hantavirus with low or no pathogenicity to humans. in the present study, 686 common voles (microtus arvalis), 249 field voles (microtus agrestis) and 30 water voles (arvicola spec.) were collected at 79 sites in germany, luxembourg and france and screened by rt-pcr and tulv-igg elisa. tulv-specific rna and/or antibodies were detected at 43 of the sites, demonstrating a geographically widespread distribution of the virus in the studied area. the tulv prevale ... | 2016 | 26831932 |
| molecular survey of zoonotic agents in rodents and other small mammals in croatia. | croatia is a focus for many rodent-borne zoonosis. here, we report a survey of 242 rodents and small mammals, including 43 myodes glareolus, 131 apodemus flavicollis, 53 apodemus agrarius, three apodemus sylvaticus, six sorex araneus, four microtus arvalis, one microtus agrestis, and one muscardinus avellanarius, collected at eight sites in croatia over an 8-year period. multiplex masstag polymerase chain reaction (pcr) was used for detection of borrelia, rickettsia, bartonella, babesia, ehrlich ... | 2016 | 26711522 |
| analysis on population level reveals trappability of wild rodents is determined by previous trap occupant. | live trapping is central to the study of small mammals. thus, any bias needs to be understood and accounted for in subsequent analyses to ensure accurate population estimates. one rarely considered bias is the behavioural response of individuals to the trap, in particular the olfactory cues left behind by previous occupants (po). we used a data set of 8,115 trap nights spanning 17 separate trapping sessions between august 2002 and november 2013 in wytham woods, oxfordshire, uk to examine if the ... | 2015 | 26689683 |
| genome-wide comparative chromosome maps of arvicola amphibius, dicrostonyx torquatus, and myodes rutilus. | the subfamily arvicolinae consists of a great number of species with highly diversified karyotypes. in spite of the wide use of arvicolines in biological and medicine studies, the data on their karyotype structures are limited. here, we made a set of painting probes from flow-sorted chromosomes of a male palearctic collared lemming (dicrostonyx torquatus, dto). together with the sets of painting probes made previously from the field vole (microtus agrestis, mag) and golden hamster (mesocricetus ... | 2016 | 26611440 |
| molecular examinations of babesia microti in rodents and rodent-attached ticks from urban and sylvatic habitats in germany. | small mammals serve as reservoir hosts for tick-borne pathogens, especially for those which are not transmitted transovarially in ticks - such as babesia microti. molecular investigations on the prevalence of b. microti in wild small mammals and on attached ticks from differently structured areas may provide information on the circulation of b. microti in different ecological niches. in 2012 and 2013, 622 rodents (396 myodes glareolus, 178 apodemus flavicollis, 36 apodemus sylvaticus, 4 apodemus ... | 2015 | 25922232 |
| an example of population-level risk assessments for small mammals using individual-based population models. | this article presents a case study demonstrating the application of 3 individual-based, spatially explicit population models (ibms, also known as agent-based models) in ecological risk assessments to predict long-term effects of a pesticide to populations of small mammals. the 3 ibms each used a hypothetical fungicide (fungicidex) in different scenarios: spraying in cereals (common vole, microtus arvalis), spraying in orchards (field vole, microtus agrestis), and cereal seed treatment (wood mous ... | 2016 | 25891765 |
| echinococcus multilocularis infection in the field vole (microtus agrestis): an ecological model for studies on transmission dynamics. | we propose a model involving the oral inoculation of echinococcus multilocularis eggs in a vole species and examine the infection dynamics in a dose-response experiment. defined doses, 100 (n = 8), 500 (n = 5) and 1000 (n = 5) of e. multilocularis eggs were used to inoculate microtus agrestis. four female c57bl/6j mice were inoculated with 1000 eggs as positive controls. the groups inoculated with 100 and 500 eggs exhibited significantly higher lesion numbers, and relatively smaller lesion size ... | 2015 | 25663069 |
| epigenetic modifications in sex heterochromatin of vole rodents. | the genome of some vole rodents contains large blocks of heterochromatin coupled to the sex chromosomes. while the dna content of these heterochromatic blocks has been extensively analyzed, little is known about the epigenetic modifications controlling their structure and dynamics. to better understand its organization and functions within the nucleus, we have compared the distribution pattern of several epigenetic marks in cells from two species, microtus agrestis and microtus cabrerae. we firs ... | 2015 | 25527445 |
| spatial analyses of wildlife contact networks. | datasets from which wildlife contact networks of epidemiological importance can be inferred are becoming increasingly common. a largely unexplored facet of these data is finding evidence of spatial constraints on who has contact with whom, despite theoretical epidemiologists having long realized spatial constraints can play a critical role in infectious disease dynamics. a graph dissimilarity measure is proposed to quantify how close an observed contact network is to being purely spatial whereby ... | 2015 | 25411407 |
| silicon, endophytes and secondary metabolites as grass defenses against mammalian herbivores. | grasses have been considered to primarily employ tolerance in lieu of defense in mitigating damage caused by herbivory. yet a number of mechanisms have been identified in grasses, which may deter feeding by grazers. these include enhanced silicon uptake, hosting of toxin-producing endophytic fungi and induction of secondary metabolites. while these mechanisms have been individually studied, their synergistic responses to grazing, as well as their effects on grazers, are poorly known. a field exp ... | 2014 | 25278951 |
| experimental infection of voles with francisella tularensis indicates their amplification role in tularemia outbreaks. | tularemia outbreaks in humans have been linked to fluctuations in rodent population density, but the mode of bacterial maintenance in nature is unclear. here we report on an experiment to investigate the pathogenesis of francisella tularensis infection in wild rodents, and thereby assess their potential to spread the bacterium. we infected 20 field voles (microtus agrestis) and 12 bank voles (myodes glareolus) with a strain of f. tularensis ssp. holarctica isolated from a human patient. upon eut ... | 2014 | 25271640 |
| land-bridge calibration of molecular clocks and the post-glacial colonization of scandinavia by the eurasian field vole microtus agrestis. | phylogeography interprets molecular genetic variation in a spatial and temporal context. molecular clocks are frequently used to calibrate phylogeographic analyses, however there is mounting evidence that molecular rates decay over the relevant timescales. it is therefore essential that an appropriate rate is determined, consistent with the temporal scale of the specific analysis. this can be achieved by using temporally spaced data such as ancient dna or by relating the divergence of lineages d ... | 2014 | 25111840 |
| leptospira spp. in rodents and shrews in germany. | leptospirosis is an acute, febrile disease occurring in humans and animals worldwide. leptospira spp. are usually transmitted through direct or indirect contact with the urine of infected reservoir animals. among wildlife species, rodents act as the most important reservoir for both human and animal infection. to gain a better understanding of the occurrence and distribution of pathogenic leptospires in rodent and shrew populations in germany, kidney specimens of 2973 animals from 11 of the 16 f ... | 2014 | 25062275 |
| an immunological marker of tolerance to infection in wild rodents. | hosts are likely to respond to parasitic infections by a combination of resistance (expulsion of pathogens) and tolerance (active mitigation of pathology). of these strategies, the basis of tolerance in animal hosts is relatively poorly understood, with especially little known about how tolerance is manifested in natural populations. we monitored a natural population of field voles using longitudinal and cross-sectional sampling modes and taking measurements on body condition, infection, immune ... | 2014 | 25004450 |
| identification of novel anelloviruses with broad diversity in uk rodents. | anelloviruses are a family of small circular ssdna viruses with a vast genetic diversity. human infections with the prototype anellovirus, torque teno virus (ttv), are ubiquitous and related viruses have been described in a number of other mammalian hosts. despite over 15 years of investigation, there is still little known about the pathogenesis and possible disease associations of anellovirus infections, arising in part due to the lack of a robust cell culture system for viral replication or tr ... | 2014 | 24744300 |
| serological survey of rodent-borne viruses in finnish field voles. | in northern europe, rodent populations display cyclic density fluctuations that can be correlated with the human incidence of zoonotic diseases they spread. during density peaks, field voles (microtus agrestis) become one of the most abundant rodent species in northern europe, yet little is known of the viruses they host. we screened 709 field voles, trapped from 14 sites over 3 years, for antibodies against four rodent-borne, potentially zoonotic viruses or virus groups-hantaviruses, lymphocyti ... | 2014 | 24689532 |
| dampening prey cycle overrides the impact of climate change on predator population dynamics: a long-term demographic study on tawny owls. | predicting the dynamics of animal populations with different life histories requires careful understanding of demographic responses to multifaceted aspects of global changes, such as climate and trophic interactions. continent-scale dampening of vole population cycles, keystone herbivores in many ecosystems, has been recently documented across europe. however, its impact on guilds of vole-eating predators remains unknown. to quantify this impact, we used a 27-year study of an avian predator (taw ... | 2014 | 24634279 |
| diet quality limits summer growth of field vole populations. | marked variation occurs in both seasonal and multiannual population density peaks of northern european small mammal species, including voles. the availability of dietary proteins is a key factor limiting the population growth of herbivore species. the objective of this study is to investigate the degree to which protein availability influences the growth of increasing vole populations. we hypothesise that the summer growth of folivorous vole populations is positively associated with dietary prot ... | 2014 | 24621513 |
| host-parasite biology in the real world: the field voles of kielder. | research on the interactions between the field voles (microtus agrestis) of kielder forest and their natural parasites dates back to the 1930s. these early studies were primarily concerned with understanding how parasites shape the characteristic cyclic population dynamics of their hosts. however, since the early 2000s, research on the kielder field voles has expanded considerably and the system has now been utilized for the study of host-parasite biology across many levels, including genetics, ... | 2014 | 24612619 |
| detection of francisella tularensis in voles in finland. | francisella tularensis is a highly virulent intracellular bacterium causing the zoonotic disease tularemia. it recurrently causes human and animal outbreaks in northern europe, including finland. although f. tularensis infects several mammal species, only rodents and lagomorphs seem to have importance in its ecology. peak densities of rodent populations may trigger tularemia outbreaks in humans; however, it is still unclear to which extent rodents or other small mammals maintain f. tularensis in ... | 2014 | 24575824 |
| coxiella burnetii (q-fever) seroprevalence in prey and predators in the united kingdom: evaluation of infection in wild rodents, foxes and domestic cats using a modified elisa. | coxiella burnetii, the agent of q-fever, is recognized as a worldwide zoonosis with a wide host range and potentially complex reservoir systems. infected ruminants are the main source of infection for humans, but cats and other mammals, including wild rodents, also represent potential sources of infection. there has been a recent upsurge of reported cases in humans, domestic ruminants and wildlife in many parts of the world, and studies have indicated that wild brown rats may act as true reservo ... | 2015 | 24479951 |
| functional responses of the rough-legged buzzard in a multi-prey system. | the functional response is a key element of predator-prey interactions. basic functional response theory explains foraging behavior of individual predators, but many empirical studies of free-ranging predators have estimated functional responses by using population-averaged data. we used a novel approach to investigate functional responses of an avian predator (the rough legged-buzzard buteo lagopus pontoppidan, 1763) to intra-annual spatial variation in rodent density in subarctic sweden, using ... | 2014 | 24448699 |
| a small scale survey of leptospira in mammals from eastern poland. | samples of 30 dead small mammals each were collected on area 'a' located in eastern poland and exposed to floods by the vistula river, and on area 'b', also located in eastern poland, but not exposed to floods. kidneys and livers of the mammals were examined by the pcr and nested pcr methods for the presence of leptospira dna. from 7 species of small mammals examined, the presence of leptospira dna was detected in 2 of them. the prevalence of positive results was greatest in apodemus agrarius wh ... | 2013 | 24364438 |
| mycobacterium microti tuberculosis in its maintenance host, the field vole (microtus agrestis): characterization of the disease and possible routes of transmission. | the field vole (microtus agrestis) is a known maintenance host of mycobacterium microti. previous studies have shown that infected animals develop tuberculosis. however, the disease is also known in cats and is sporadically reported from humans and other mammalian species. we examined trapped field voles from an endemic area, using a range of diagnostic approaches. these confirmed that a combination of gross and histological examination with culture is most appropriate to identify the true preva ... | 2014 | 24334995 |
| contemporary radiation doses to murine rodents inhabiting the most contaminated part of the eurt. | the contemporary radiation doses to the organs and tissues of murine rodents inhabiting the most contaminated part of the eurt were estimated. the bones of animals trapped in 2005 at territories with a surface (90)sr contamination of 24-40 mbq/m(2) were used for dose reconstruction. the concentration of (90)sr in the animals' skulls was measured using the nondestructive method of bone radiometry. the dose estimation procedure included application of the published values of absorbed fractions of ... | 2014 | 24333639 |
| demonstration of an odorous intramale primer effect in short-tailed vole,microtus agrestis l. | anal (proctodeal) glands of malemicrotus agrestis housed in social isolation undergo severe atrophy. their weight and volume is significantly lower than those of the stock control males. the atrophied glands can be revived by subjecting deprived voles to various social odors. atrophied glands of isolated males do not respond to the odors of male and female urine, voided feces of females, and unvoided feces of males. atrophied anal glands of males exposed to voided male feces (which have passed t ... | 1986 | 24306670 |
| susceptibility to vole attacks due to bark phenols and terpenes inpinus contorta provenances introduced into sweden. | seedlings of north americanpinus contorta introduced to sweden and finland are severely gnawed by voles, e.g.,microtus agrestis. the level of damage varies between provenances. chemical analyses of various phenolic compounds, monoterpenes, and resin acids of different provenances and of damaged and undamaged stems showed that some phenolic substances in the bark increased after damage without deterring the animals, that monoterpene differences between provenances were not related to vole damage, ... | 1986 | 24305834 |
| a coupled hidden markov model for disease interactions. | to investigate interactions between parasite species in a host, a population of field voles was studied longitudinally, with presence or absence of six different parasites measured repeatedly. although trapping sessions were regular, a different set of voles was caught at each session, leading to incomplete profiles for all subjects. we use a discrete time hidden markov model for each disease with transition probabilities dependent on covariates via a set of logistic regressions. for each diseas ... | 2013 | 24223436 |
| invasion and genome reproduction of the trophoblast cells of placenta junctional zone in the field vole, microtus rossiaemeridionalis. | in the field vole microtus rossiaemeridionalis, like in other rodents, invasive secondary giant trophoblast cells (sgtc) form a continuous layer at the foeto-maternal interface in the beginning of placentation. however, in the field vole, at midgestation, clusters of junctional zone (jz) trophoblast non-giant cells interrupt sgtc layer and progressively replace sgtc at the border of decidua basalis. as a result, 'border' cells form a continuous stratum of cytokeratin-positive glycogen-rich cells ... | 2014 | 24155276 |
| differences in vole preference, secondary chemistry and nutrient levels between naturally regenerated and planted norway spruce seedlings. | field voles (microtus agrestis) cause severe damage to young norway spruce (picea abies) plantations during wintertime in fennoscandia. we experimentally investigated vole preference for winter-dormant, naturally regenerated seedlings; spring-planted seedlings; or autumn-planted seedlings; and how preference corresponds with seedling chemistry. voles showed the highest preference for autumn-planted seedlings and the second highest for spring-planted seedlings, while naturally regenerated seedlin ... | 2013 | 24105602 |