Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Interspecific competition in small rodents: from populations to individuals

  • Published:
Evolutionary Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The role of interspecific competition in shaping animal and plant communities has formed one of the major issues in ecology for decades. Small mammals, mainly rodents, have been among the model systems used for research on interspecific competition. Most studies within small mammal systems in the past have examined effects of competition on population attributes such as on population size, habitat use, or population dynamics. Population-level responses are the cumulative effects of individual responses, however, the influence of competition on individual life-history traits has rarely been studied. Research on life-histories may bridge gaps between population biology and effects of competition on individual behaviour. In this paper, we review recent research approaches to interspecific competition in rodents based on census data and species assemblages, that use regression analysis, time series analysis, removal and exclusion experiments, and showcase our own experimental research on the effects of interspecific competition on individual life-history traits in boreal voles.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abramsky, Z., Dyer, M.I. and Harrison, P.D. (1979) Competition among small mammals in experimentally perturbated areas of the shortgrass prairie. Ecology 60, 530-536.

    Google Scholar 

  • Abramsky, Z., Ovadia, O. and Rosenzweig, M.L. (1994) The shape of a Gerbillus pyramidum (Gerbillinae) isocline: an experimental field study. Oikos 69, 318-326.

    Google Scholar 

  • Abramsky, Z. and Pinshow, B. (1989) Changes in foraging effort in two gerbil species correlate with habitat type and intra-and interspecific activity. Oikos 56, 43-53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Abramsky, Z., Rosenzweig, M.L. and Pinshow, B. (1991) The shape of a gerbil Isocline measured using principles of optimal habitat selection. Ecology 72, 329-340.

    Google Scholar 

  • Abramsky, Z., Rosenzweig, M.L., Pinshow, B., Brown, J.S., Kotler, B. and Mitchell, W.A. (1990) Habitat selection: an experimental field test with two gerbil species. Ecology 71, 2358-2369.

    Google Scholar 

  • Abramsky, Z. and Sellah, C. (1982) Competition and the role of habitat selection in Gerbillus allenbyi and Meriones tristrami: a removal experiment. Ecology 63, 1142-1247.

    Google Scholar 

  • Abramsky, Z., Rosenzweig, M.L. and Subach, A. (1998) Do gerbils care more about competition or predation? Oikos 83, 75-85.

    Google Scholar 

  • Batzli, G.O. and Lesieutre, C. (1995) Community organization of arvicoline rodents in northern Alaska. Oikos, 72, 88-98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Begon, M., Harper, J.L. and Townsend, C.R. (1996) Ecology: Individuals, Populations, Communities. Blackwell Science, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boonstra, R. (1994) Population cycles in microtines: the senescence hypothesis. Evol. Ecol. 8, 196-219.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boutin, S. (1990) Food supplementation experiments with terrestrial vertebrates: patterns, problems, and the future. Can. J. Zool. 68, 203-220.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowers, M.A. and Brown, J.H. (1982) Body size and coexistence in desert rodents: chance of community structure? Ecology 63, 391-400.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bronson, F.H. (1989) Mammlian Reproductive Biology. University Press, Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, L.E. (1956) Field experiments on the activity of the small mammals, Apodemus, Clethrionomys and Microtus. Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. Biol. 126, 549-564.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, J.H. (1973) Species diversity of seed-eating desert rodents in sand dune habitats. Ecology 54, 775-787.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, J.H. and Lieberman, G.A. (1973) Resource utilization and coexistence of seed-eating desert rodents in sand dune habitats. Ecology 54, 788-797.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, J.S. and Rosenzweig, M.L. (1986) Habitat selection in slowly regenerating environments. J. Theor. Biol. 123, 151-171.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, W.L. and Wilson, E.O. (1956) Character displacement. Syst. Zool. 5, 49-64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bujalska, G. (1985) Regulation of female maturation in Clethrionomys species, with special reference to an island population of C. glareolus. Ann. Zool. Fenn. 22, 221-342.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bujalska, G. (1973) The role of spacing behaviour among females in the regulation of the reproduction in the bank vole. J. Reprod. Fertil. 19(Suppl.), 465-474.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bujalska, G. and Grüm, L. (1989) Social organisation of the bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus, Schreber 1780) and its demographic consequences: a model. Oecolgia 80, 70-81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chappel, M.A. (1978) Behavioural factors in the altitudinal zonation of chipmunks (Eutamias). Ecology 59, 565-569.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cole, F.R. and Batzli, G.O. (1978) Influence of supplemental feeding on a vole population. J. Mammal. 59, 809-819.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conley, W. (1976) Competition between Microtus: a behavioral hypothesis. Ecology 57, 224-237.

    Google Scholar 

  • Connell, J.H. (1983) On the prevalence and relative importance of interspecific competition: evidence from field experiments. Am. Nat. 122, 661-696.

    Google Scholar 

  • Connor E.F. and Simberloff, D. (1979) The assembly of species communities: chance or competition? Ecology 60, 1132-1140.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crowell, K.L. (1983) Islands-insight or artifact? Population dynamics and habitat utilisation in insular rodents. Oikos 41, 442-454.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crowell, K.L. and Pimm, S.L. (1976) Competition and niche shifts introduced onteo small islands. Oikos 27, 251-258.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Jonge, G. (1983) Aggressive and group formations in the voles Microtus agrestis, M. arvalis, and Clethrionomys glareolus in relation to intra-and interspecific competition. Behaviour 84, 73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diamond, J.M. (1975) Assembly of species communities. In M.L. Cody and J.M. Diamond (eds) Ecology and Evolution of Competitors. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dueser, R.D. and Hallett, J.G. (1980) Competition and habitat selection in a forest-floor small mammal fauna. Oikos 35, 293-297.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eccard, J.A. (2002) Effects of competition and seasonality on life history traits of bank voles. PhD Thesis, Jyväskylä Studies in Biological and Environmental Science 107.

  • Eccard, J.A., Klemme, I., Horne, T.J. and Ylönen, H. (2002) Effects of competition and season on survival and maturation of young bank vole females. Evol. Ecol. 16, 85-99.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eccard, J.A. and Ylönen, H. (2001) Onset of spring reproduction in the bank vole: effects of food and population density. Can J Zool. 79, 1743-1753.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eccard, J.A. and Ylönen, H. (2002) Direct interference or indirect exploitation? An experimental study of fitness costs of interspecific competition in voles. Oikos 99, 580-590.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eccard, J.A. and Ylönen, H. (2002b) Density and stress: faecal corticosteroid measurement in free living vole populations. Adv. Ethol. 37, 165.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eccard, J.A. and Ylönen, H. (in press) Who bears the costs of interspecific competition in an agestructured population? Ecology 84(12).

  • Fretwell, S.D. and Lucas, H.L. Jr. (1970) On territorial behavior and other factors indlurencing habitat distribution in birds: I. Theoretical development. Acta Biotheor. 19, 16-36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox, B.J. (1987) Species assembly and the evolution of community structure. Evol. Ecol. 1, 201-213.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox, B.J. and Brown, J.H. (1995) Reaffirming the validity of the assembly rule for functional groups or guilds: a reply to Wilson. Oikos 73, 125-132.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox, B.J. and Kirkland, G.L. Jr. (1992) An assembly rule for functional groups applied to North American soricid communities. J. Mammal. 73, 491-503.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox, B.J. and Pople, A.R. (1984) Experimental confirmation of interspecific competition between native and introduce mice. Aust. J. Ecol. 9, 323-334.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilbert, B.S., Krebs, C.J., Talarico, D. and Cichowski, D.B. (1986) Do Clethrionomys rutilis females suppress maturation of juvenile females? J. Anim. Ecol. 55, 543-452.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gliwicz, J. (1981) Competitive interactions among forest rodent community in Central Poland. Oikos 37, 353-362.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grant, P.R. (1969) Experimental studies of competitive interaction in a two-species system: I. Microtus and Clethrionomys species in enclosures. Can. J. Zool. 47, 1059-1082.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grant, P.R. (1970) Experimental studies of competitve interaction in a two species system. II. The behaviour of Microtus, Peromyscus and Clethrionmys species. Anim. Behav. 18, 411-426.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grant, P.R. (1971) Experimental studies of competitive interaction in a two species system. III. Microtus and Peromyscus species in enclosures. J. Anim. Ecol. 40, 323-350.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grant, P.R. (1972) Interspecific competition among rodents. V. Summary of the evidence for rodent species, and some generalisations. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 3, 79-106.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grey, S.J. and Hurst, J.L. (1997) Bevioural mechanisms underlying the spatial dispersion of commensal Mus domesticus and grassland Mus spretus. Anim. Behav. 53, 511-524.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gurevitch, J., Morrow, L.L., Wallace, A. and Walsh, J.S. (1992) A Meta-analysis of competition in field experiments. Am. Nat. 140, 539-572.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gurnell, J. (1985) Woodland rodent communities. Symp. Zool. Soc. Lond. 55, 377-411.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hafner, M.S. (1977) Density and diversity in Mojave Desert rodent and shrub communities. J. Anim. Ecol. 46, 925-938.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halle, S., Eccard, J.A., Jakob, J. and Ylönen, H. (1999) Verhaltensänderungen der Rötelmaus (Clethrionomys glareolus) als Antwort auf interspezifische Konkurrenz. Z. Saügetierkunde 145 (suppl.), 16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hallett, J.G., O'Connell, M.A. and Honeycutt, R.L. (1983) Competition and habitat selection: a test of a theory using small mammals. Oikos 40, 175-181.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansen, T.F., Stenseth, N.C., Henttonen, H. and Tast, J. (1999) Interspecific and intraspecific competition as causes of direct and delayed density dependence in a fluctuating vole population. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96, 986-991.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanski, I. and Henttonen, H. (1996) Predation on competing rodent species: a simple explanation of complex patterns. J. Anim. Ecol. 65, 220-232.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanski, I., Henttonen, H., Korpimaeki, E., Oksanen, L. and Turchin, P (2001) Small-rodent dynamics and predation. Ecology 82, 1505-1520.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansson, L. (1982) Experiments on habitat selection in voles: implications for the inverse distribution of two common European species. Oecologia 52, 246-255.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansson, L. (1983) Competition between rodents in successional stages of taiga forests: Microtus agrestis vs Clethrionomys glareolus. Oikos 40, 258-266.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harper, J.M. and Austad, S.N. (2000) Fecal corticosteroids: a non-invasive method of measuring adrenal activity in wild and captive rodents. Physiol. Biochem Zool. 73, 12-22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harvey, P.H., Colwell, R.K., Silverton, J.W. and May, R.M. (1983) Null models in Ecology. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 14, 198-211.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heller, H.C. (1971) Altitudinal zonation of chipmunks (Eutamias): interspecific aggression. Ecology 52, 312-319.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henttonen, H. and Hansson, L. (1984) Interspecific relations between small rodents in European boreal and subarctic environments. Acta Zool. Fennica 172, 61-65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henttonen, H., Kaikusalo, A., Tast, J. and Viitala, J. (1977) Interspecific competition between small rodents in subarctic and boreal ecosystems. Oikos 29, 581-590.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heske, E.J., Brown, J.H. and Mistry, S. (1994) Long-term experimental study of a Chihuahuan Desert rodent community: 13 years of competition. Ecology 75, 438-445.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heske, E.J. and Repp, J.M. (1985) Laboratory and field evidence for the avoidance of California voles (Microtus californicus) by western harvest mice (Reithrodontomys megalotis). Can. J. Zool. 64, 1530-1534.

    Google Scholar 

  • Higgs, P. and Fox, B.J. (1993) Interspecific competition: a mechanism for rodent succession after fire in wet heathland. Aus. J. Ecol. 18, 193-201.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoffmeyer, I. (1973) Interaction and habitat selection in mice Apodemus flavicollis and A. sylvaticus. Oikos 24, 108-116.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holbrook, S.J. (1979) Habitat utilization, competitive interactions, and coexistence of three species of cricetine rodents in East-Central Arizona. Ecology 60, 758-769.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holt, R.D. (1977) Predation, apparent competition, and the structure of prey communities. Theoret. Pop. Biol. 12, 197-229.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hurlbert, S.H. (1984) Pseudoreplication and the design of ecological field experiments. Ecol. Monogr. 54, 187-211.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hutchinson, G.E. (1959) Homage to Santa Rosalia, or why are there so many kinds of mammals Am. Nat. 93, 145-159.

    Google Scholar 

  • Iversen, S.L. and Turner, B.N. (1972) Winter coexistence of clethrionomys gapperi and microtus pennsylvanions in grassland habitat. Am. Midl. Nat. 88, 440-445.

    Google Scholar 

  • Joule, J. and Jameson, D.L (1972) Experimental manipulation of population density of three sympatric rodents. Ecology 53, 653-660.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelt, D.A., Rogovin, K., Shenbrot, G. and Brown, J.H. (1999) Patterns in the structure of Asian and North American desert small mammal communities. J. Biogeogr. 26, 825-841.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelt, D.A., Taper, M.L. and Meserve, P.L. (1995) Assessing the impact of competition on community assembly: a case study using small mammals. Ecology 76, 1283-1296.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kincaid, W.B. and Cameron, G.N. (1982) Effects of species removal on resource utilisation in a Texas rodent community. J. Mammal. 63, 229-235.

    Google Scholar 

  • Köhler, K., Ylönen, H. and Eccard, J.A. (2000) Social Interactions between Clethrionomys glareolus and Microtus agrestis. Z. Sa¨ugetierkunde 65, 26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kotler, B.P. (1985) Microhabitat utilizaion in desert rodents: a comparison of two methods of measurements. J. Mammal. 66, 374-378.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krebs, C.J. (1976) Competition between Microtus pennsylvanicus and Microtus ochronogaster. Am. Midl. Nat. 97, 42-49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kronfeld-Schor, N., Dayan, T., Elvert, R., Haim, A., Zisapel, N. and Heldmaier, G. (2001) On the use of the time axis for ecological separation: diel rhythms as an evolutionary constraint. Am. Nat. 158, 451-457.

    Google Scholar 

  • Letcher, A.J., Purvis, A., Nee, S. and Harvey, P.H. (1994) Patterns of overlap in the geographic ranges of Palearctic and British mammals. J. Anim. Ecol. 63, 871-879.

    Google Scholar 

  • Löfgren, O. (1995) Niche expansion and increased maturation rate of Clethrionomys glareolus in the absence of competitors. J. Mammal. 76, 1100-1112.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luo, J., Monamy, V. and Fox, B.J. (1998) Competition between two Australian rodent species: a regression analysis. J. Mammal. 79, 962-971.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maitz, W.E and Dickman, C.R. (2001) Competition and habitat use in native Australian Rattus: is competition intense, or important? Oecologia 128, 526-538.

    Google Scholar 

  • McPhee, E.C. (1984) Ethological aspects of mutual exclusion in the parapatric species of Clethrionomys. Acta Zool. Fennica 172, 71-73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchel, W.A., Abramsky, Z., Kotler, B.P., Pinshow, B. and Brown, J.S. (1990) The effect of competition on foraging activity in desert rodents: theory and experiments. Ecology 71, 844-854.

    Google Scholar 

  • Montgomery, W.I. (1981) A removal experiment with sympatric populations of Apodemus sylvaticus and A flavicollis. Oecologia 51, 123-132.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morris, D.W. (1987) Spatial scale and the cost of density-dependent habitat selection. Evol. Ecol. 1, 379-388.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morris, D.W. (1989) Habitat-dependent estimates of competitive interaction. Oikos 55, 111-120.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morris, D.W. (1996) State-dependent life history and senescence of white-footed mice. Ecoscience3, 1-6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morris, D.W. (1999) Has the ghost of competition passed? Evol. Ecol. Res. 1, 3–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morris, D.W., Lundberg, P. and Ripa, J. (2001) Hamiton's rule confronts ideal-free habitast selection. Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. B. 268, 291–294.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morris, D.W., Fox, B.J., Luo, J. and Monamy, V. (2000) Habitat-dependent competition and the coexistence of Australian heathland rodents. Oikos 91, 294-306.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morris, R.D. and Grant, P.R (1972) Experimental studies of competitive interaction in a two species system. IV. Microtus and Clethrionomys species in a single enclosure. J. Anim. Ecol. 41, 275-290.

    Google Scholar 

  • Munger, J.C. and Brown, J.H. (1981) Competition in desert rodents: an experiment with semipermeable exclosures. Science 211, 510-512.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murie, J.O. (1971) Behavioural relationship between two sympatice voles (Microtus): relevance to habitat segregation. J. Mammal. 52, 181-186.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pimm, S.L., Rosenzweig, M.L. and Mitchell, W. (1985) Competition and food selection: field test of a theory. Ecology 66, 798-807.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prévot-Jullliard, A.C., Henttonen, H., Yoccoz, N.G. and Steuseth, N.C. (1991) Delayed maturation in female bank voles, Clethrionomys glareolus: optimal decision of social constrain. J. Anim. Ecol. 68, 684-697.

    Google Scholar 

  • Price. M.V. (1978) The role of microhabitat in structuring desert rodent communities. Ecology 58, 910-920.

    Google Scholar 

  • Redfield, J.A., Krebs, C.J. and Taitt M.J. (1977) Competition between Peromyscus maniculatus and Microtus townsendii in grasslands of coastal British Columbia. J. Anim. Ecol. 46, 607-616.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenzweig, M.L. (1981) A theory of habitat selection. Ecology 42, 327-335.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenzweig, M.L. (1991) Habitat selection and population interactions: a search for mechanism. Am. Nat. 137 (Suppl.) 5-28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenzweig, M.L. and Abramsky, Z. (1986) Centrifugal community organisation. Oikos 45, 79-88.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenzweig, M.L. and Abramsky, Z. (1997) Two gerbils of the Negev: a long-term investigation of optimal habitat selection and its consequences. Evo. Ecol. 11, 733-756.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenzweig, M.L., Abramsky, Z. and Brand, S. (1984) Estimating species interactions in heterogenous environments. Oikos 43, 329-340.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenzweig, M.L., Abramsky, Z., Kotler, B. and Mitchell, W. (1985) Can interaction coefficients be determined from census data? Oecologia 66, 194-198.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenzweig, M.L. and Sterner, P.W. (1970) Population ecology of desert rodent communities: body size and seed husking as bases for heteromyid coexistence. Ecology 51, 217-224.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoener, T.S. (1983) Field experiments on interspecific competition. Am. Nat. 122, 240-285.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schroeder, G.D. and Rosenzweig, M.L. (1975) Perturbation analysis of competition and overleap in habitat utilization between Dipodomys ordii and Dipodomys merriami. Oecologia 19, 9-28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shenbrot, G. and Krasnov, B. (2002) Can interaction coefficients be determined from census data? Testing two estimation methods with Negev Desert rodents. Oikos 99, 47-58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simberloff, D. (1982) The status of competition theory in ecology. Ann. Zool. Fenn. 19, 241-253.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smyth, G. (1968) The effects of the removal of individuals from a population of bank voles Clethrionomys glareolus. J. Anim. Ecol. 37, 167-183.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stearns, S.C. (1992) The Evolution of Life Histories. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stoecker, R.E. (1972) Competitive relations between sympatric populations of voles (Microtus montanus and M. pennsylvanicus). J. Anim. Ecol. 41, 311-329.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stone, L., Dayan, T. and Simberloff, D. (1996) Community-wide assembly patterns unmasked: the importance of species' differing geographical ranges. Am. Nat. 148, 997-1015.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strong, D.R., Szyska, L.A. and Simberloff, D. (1979) Tests of community-wide character displacement against null hypotheses. Evolution 33, 897-913.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, P. and Fox B.J. (1993) Asymmetric competition in Australian heathland rodents: a reciprocal removal experiment demonstrating the influence of size-class structure. Oikos 67, 264-278.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tkadlec, E. and Zejda, J. (1998) Density-dependent life histories in female bank voles from fluctuating populations. J. Anim. Ecol. 67, 863-873.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, B.N., Perrin, J. and Iverson, S.L. (1975) Winter coexistence on voles in spruce forest: relevance of seasonal changes in aggression. Can. J. Zool. 53, 1004-1011.

    Google Scholar 

  • Valone, T.J. and Brown, J.H. (1995) Effects of competition, colonization, and extinction on rodent species diversity. Science 267, 880-883.

    Google Scholar 

  • Viitala, J. (1977) Social organisation in cyclic subarctic populations of the voles Clethrionomys rufocanus (Sund.) and Microtus agrestis (L.). Ann. Zool. Fenn. 14, 53-93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, J.B. (1995) Fox and Brown's 'random data sets' are not random. Oikos 74, 543-544.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiher, E. and Keddy, P. (1999) Ecological Assembly Rules. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiens, J.A. (1977) On competition and variable environments. Am. Sci. 64, 590-597.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolff, J.O. (1985) The effects of density, food, and interspecific interference on home range size in Peromyscus leucopus and Peromyscus maniculatus. Can. J. Zool. 63, 2657-2662.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolff, J.O. and Dueser, R.D. (1986) Noncompetitve coexistence between Peromyscus species and Clethrionomys gapperi. Can. Field Nat. 100, 186-191.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ylönen, H. (1990) Spatial avoidance between the bank vole Clethrionomys glareolus and the harvest mouse Micromys minutus: an experimental study. Ann. Zool. Fenn. 27, 313-320.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yoccoz, N.G., Stenseth, N.C., Henttonen, H. and Prévot-Jullliard, A.C. (2001) Effects of food addition on the seasonal density-dependent structure of bank vole clethrionomys glareolus. J. Anim. Ecol. 70, 713-720.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ziv, Y., Abramsky, Z., Kotler, B.P. and Subach, A. (1993) Interference competition and temporal and habitat partitioning in two gerbil species. Oikos 66, 237-246.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ziv, Y. and Kotler, B.P. (2003) Giving-up-densities of foraging gerbils: the effect of interspecific competition on patch use. Evol. Ecol. 17, (this issue).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, PO Box 35, FIN-40351, Jyväskylä, Finland

    Jana A. Eccard & Hannu Ylönen

Authors
  1. Jana A. Eccard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Hannu Ylönen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Eccard, J.A., Ylönen, H. Interspecific competition in small rodents: from populations to individuals. Evolutionary Ecology 17, 423–440 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1027305410005

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1027305410005

Search

Navigation