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DENSITY-DEPENDENT RESPONSES OF GRAY-TAILED VOLES TO MOWING
Citation:
Edge, W., J. Wolff, AND R. Carey. DENSITY-DEPENDENT RESPONSES OF GRAY-TAILED VOLES TO MOWING. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/J-95/406, 1995.
Description:
Voles (Microtus spp.) commonly inhabit forage crops and may cause excessive damage to these crops. owever, cover removal by mowing or haying may cause vole populations to decline. o determine if gray-tailed voles responded to mowing of alfalfa in a density-dependent manner, the authors live-trapped 4 populations in each of low- (<30 voles), medium- 50-70 and high-density (>90) 0.2 ha enclosures before and after mowing in 1992. urvival rates of both sexes, population size and growth rates, and proportion of total captures that were recruits declines (P<0.05) following mowing in all enclosures. lthough mowing reduces populations of gray-tailed voles and disrupts social organization, the high reproductive potential of the species enables populations to recover rapidly to premowing levels.