Social behaviour has been linked to hypotheses explaining multiannual population cycles of small rodents. In this paper we aimed to test empirically that the degree of space sharing among adult breeding female voles is higher during the increase phase than in the crash phase, and that the degree of sociality is positively related to population growth rate as suggested by Lambin and Krebs (Oikos 61:126–132, 1991) and Andreassen et al. (Oikos 122:507–515, 2013). We followed 24 natural bank vole Myodes glareolus populations over an area of 113 km2 by monthly live trapping throughout a complete population cycle of three summers and two winters. Using spatially explicit capture-recapture models, we modelled the overlap in adult female home ranges and total population growth rate per season. We identified an increase phase before and during the peak density observation and a crash phase following the peak. Female home range overlap were seasonal- and phase-dependent, while population growth rate was associated with season and female home range overlap. High female home range overlap in the increase phase corresponded to a high population growth rate. We suggest that intrinsic social behaviour plays a key role in the increase phase of vole population cycles, as social behaviour leads to an increased growth rate, whereas extrinsic factors (predation and/or food) initiate the crash phase. Our results are consistent with those of other studies in a variety of small rodent species.

中文翻译：

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周期性田鼠种群社会行为的阶段和季节相关变化

社会行为已与假说联系起来，这些假说解释了小型啮齿动物的多年生种群周期。本文旨在通过实证检验，成年雌性田鼠在成年期的空间共享程度要比崩溃时期高，社交程度与人口增长率正相关（如Lambin和Krebs所言） （Oikos 61：126–132，1991）和Andreassen等。（Oikos 122：507–515，2013）。在三个夏季和两个冬季的整个种群周期中，我们每月跟踪活捕面积为113平方公里的24个自然岸田鼠Myodes glareolus种群。使用空间明确的捕获-捕获模型，我们对成年女性家庭范围的重叠和每个季节的总人口增长率进行了建模。我们确定了峰值密度观察之前和之中的增加阶段，以及峰值之后的崩溃阶段。女性家庭范围重叠与季节和阶段有关，而人口增长率与季节和女性家庭范围重叠相关。在增加阶段，较高的女性家庭范围重叠对应于较高的人口增长率。我们认为，内在的社会行为在田鼠种群周期的增加阶段中起着关键作用，因为社会行为会导致增长率的提高，而外在因素（捕食和/或食物）则开始了崩溃阶段。我们的结果与其他各种小型啮齿动物研究的结果一致。而人口增长率与季节和女性家庭范围重叠有关。在增长阶段，较高的女性家庭范围重叠对应于较高的人口增长率。我们认为，内在的社会行为在田鼠种群周期的增加阶段中起着关键作用，因为社会行为会导致增长率的提高，而外在因素（捕食和/或食物）则开始了崩溃阶段。我们的结果与其他各种小型啮齿动物研究的结果一致。而人口增长率与季节和女性家庭范围重叠有关。在增加阶段，较高的女性家庭范围重叠对应于较高的人口增长率。我们建议，内在的社会行为在田鼠种群周期的增加阶段中起关键作用，因为社会行为导致增长率的提高，而外在因素（捕食和/或食物）引发了崩溃阶段。我们的结果与其他各种小型啮齿动物研究的结果一致。而外部因素（掠食和/或食物）启动了崩溃阶段。我们的结果与其他各种小型啮齿动物研究的结果一致。而外部因素（掠食和/或食物）启动了崩溃阶段。我们的结果与其他各种小型啮齿动物研究的结果一致。