Abstract Microtus and Myodes continue to be major pests in agricultural and forest production in many temperate and boreal ecosystems of North America and Eurasia. However, voles may also be keystone species because of their predator-prey dynamics and feeding linkages in many networks. As an alternative to rodenticides, exploration continues for a suitable fear-based method to reduce vole damage to crops. This study tested the hypotheses (H) that a “neat” formulation of synthetic anal-gland compounds of the short-tailed weasel (Mustela erminea L.) would reduce (H1) abundance, reproduction, survival, body mass, and movement of long-tailed vole (Microtus longicaudus Merriam) populations; and (H2) feeding damage to coniferous seedlings by voles in forest plantations. Vole populations were live-trapped on replicate sites from May 2005 to June 2006 during a peak year in abundance near Golden, British Columbia, Canada. Synthetic weasel odour was continually present on treatment sites from June 2005 to June 2006. Overwinter mortality to planted coniferous seedlings from vole feeding was measured on all sites in May–June 2006. Synthetic weasel odour compounds did not reduce mean abundance of M. longicaudus but, in fact, resulted in significantly higher numbers of voles in the treatment sites owing to a major pulse of transient (single capture) animals. Mean number of successful pregnancies and total recruits were also higher in treatment than control sites, but early juvenile survival, movements, and body mass were all similar between control and weasel-odour sites. However, mean Jolly-Seber 28-day total survival rates were higher (2.9–3.9 times) on control than treatment sites for both male and female voles during the overwinter-spring 2005–06 period. Much of the reduced survival was due to transient animals which tended to have a higher proportion of adults to juveniles in treatment than control sites. Some degree of disruption presumably occurred on the treatment sites perhaps owing to increased breeding intensity by females in the face of perceived predation or the presence of various mammalian predators attracted to the weasel odour and preying upon voles. This disruption may be linked to the use of synthetic weasel odour in suitable release devices that maintain the odour even in high quality habitats for voles. Despite the difference in abundance, voles seemed to feed less on plantation trees in the treatment than control sites. If this population disruption is real, we suggest that large-scale (e.g., 10+ ha) application of synthetic weasel odour in areas requiring crop protection from voles would be a worthwhile endeavour. This prediction is particularly germane for M. longicaudus where weasel odour treatment might be able to disrupt substantially their one population fluctuation on newly clearcut sites.

中文翻译：

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合成芥类信息素抑制长尾田鼠（Microtus longicaudus）种群的存活和摄食损害

摘要 Microtus 和 Myodes 仍然是北美和欧亚大陆许多温带和北方生态系统中农业和森林生产的主要害虫。然而，田鼠也可能是关键物种，因为它们的捕食者-猎物动态和许多网络中的进食联系。作为灭鼠剂的替代品，继续探索一种合适的基于恐惧的方法，以减少田鼠对作物的损害。本研究检验了假设 (H)，即短尾黄鼠狼 (Mustela erminea L.) 合成肛门腺化合物的“纯”配方会降低 (H1) 丰度、繁殖、存活、体重和长尾黄鼠狼的运动。 -尾田鼠（Microtus longicaudus Merriam）种群；(H2) 人工林中田鼠对针叶树苗的摄食损害。从 2005 年 5 月到 2006 年 6 月，在加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省 Golden 附近的丰度高峰年，田鼠种群在复制站点上被活捉。从 2005 年 6 月到 2006 年 6 月，处理地点的合成黄鼠狼气味持续存在。2006 年 5 月至 6 月，在所有地点测量了田鼠喂养种植的针叶幼苗的越冬死亡率。合成黄鼠狼气味化合物并未降低 M. longicaudus 的平均丰度，而是事实上，由于瞬时（单次捕获）动物的主要脉冲，导致处理部位的田鼠数量显着增加。治疗中成功怀孕的平均数和新兵总数也高于对照组，但早期幼鱼的存活率、运动和体重在对照组和黄鼠狼气味站点之间都相似。然而，在 2005-06 年的越冬春季期间，雄性和雌性田鼠的平均 Jolly-Seber 28 天总存活率在对照组中均高于治疗部位（2.9-3.9 倍）。存活率降低的很大一部分原因是短暂的动物，与对照组相比，这些动物在治疗中往往有更高的成年和幼年比例。处理地点可能发生了某种程度的破坏，这可能是由于雌性在面对感知到的捕食或存在各种被黄鼠狼气味吸引并捕食田鼠的哺乳动物捕食者时增加了繁殖强度。这种破坏可能与在合适的释放装置中使用合成黄鼠狼气味有关，这些装置即使在田鼠的高质量栖息地也能保持气味。尽管数量不同，与对照组相比，处理中田鼠似乎以种植园树木为食。如果这种种群中断是真实的，我们建议在需要作物保护免受田鼠侵害的地区大规模（例如，10 公顷以上）使用合成黄鼠狼气味将是一项值得的努力。这一预测与 M. longicaudus 尤其密切相关，在那里黄鼠狼气味处理可能能够在新的清除地点显着破坏它们的一个种群波动。