Winter Energetics and Reproduction in a Small Non-hibernating High-latitude Mammal: the Red-backed Vole

小型非冬眠高纬度哺乳动物的冬季能量和繁殖：红背田鼠

• 批准号: 0616245
• 负责人: Ian van Tets
• 金额: $ 30万
• 依托单位: University of Alaska Anchorage Campus
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-09-01 至 2009-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0616245&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Winter; Energetics; Reproduction; Small; Non

Arvicoline rodents (voles and lemmings) have rarely been studied in the field in winter. They do not migrate. They do not use torpor or hibernation to conserve energy. Yet they are the most abundant small mammals in arctic and sub-arctic ecosystems, surviving and reproducing in long, dark, cold and food-limited winters. There are no data on energy requirements of these animals in winter, no data on seasonal changes in their food quality and only indirect data available on reproduction outside summer. This project will be a field-based study on a representative species, the northern red-backed vole, Clethrionomys rutilus, in Alaska. It will substantially improve our knowledge of the mechanisms that underpin winter survival and reproduction in one of the most influential arctic taxa. Vole and lemming population sizes are of fundamental interest to ecologists working in arctic and sub-arctic ecosystems and this has been a driving force behind the search for the mechanisms that underpin their population cycles. Ecological work on population cycling has been handicapped by the absence of data on winter survival and reproduction rates. This project will generate those data and thus improve our ability to predict summer vole populations. It will help us to better predict the effect on winter reproduction and survival in vole and lemming populations should the current warming trend continue in Alaska. The aim of this project is to test the hypothesis that northern red-backed voles change their patterns of energy use and acquisition in winter in a manner that facilitates their survival and that these energetic changes enable a sub-set of the population to reproduce during that period. Field data on body condition, reproductive state and field metabolic rate will be obtained through the year from free-living voles in the Chugach State Forest, Alaska and correlations between these measurements and environmental parameters will be identified. Parallel laboratory studies will address what determines reproductive activity in winter. This project will help to establish a collaborative research network to broaden the related research infrastructure in Alaska. It represents the first major collaboration between the Alaska Zoo, Anchorage, Alaska, and the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA). Display material and an educational program are being developed for the zoo to inform the general public about the research as well as on the general biology of Alaskan rodents. Research is a new focus for the Alaska zoo and its involvement represents a substantial increase in animal research infrastructure for Anchorage. This project will build collaborative links between Alaska's two major universities, the University of Alaska Anchorage and the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and will further the development of graduate research at UAA. The PhD student associated with this project is jointly enrolled at UAA and UAF and supervised by faculty from each campus. In addition to the PhD student and masters student employed in the project, at least one UAA undergraduate student will participate every summer through the UAA honors program and at least two Alaska Native High School students will do so as part of the Biomedical Department's Della Keats/UD0C program.

在冬季野外对鼠科啮齿类动物（田鼠和旅鼠）的研究很少。它们不会迁徙。它们不会用冬眠或昏睡来保存能量。然而，它们是北极和亚北极生态系统中数量最多的小型哺乳动物，在漫长、黑暗、寒冷和食物有限的冬季生存和繁殖。没有关于这些动物在冬季的能量需求的数据，没有关于它们的食物质量的季节性变化的数据，只有关于夏季以外繁殖的间接数据。这个项目将是一个实地研究的代表物种，北红背田鼠，Clethrionomys rutilus，在阿拉斯加。这将大大提高我们对最具影响力的北极分类群之一的冬季生存和繁殖机制的认识。田鼠和旅鼠的种群规模是研究北极和亚北极生态系统的生态学家的根本兴趣所在，这一直是寻找支撑其种群周期的机制背后的驱动力。由于缺乏冬季存活率和繁殖率的数据，关于种群循环的生态工作受到了阻碍。这个项目将生成这些数据，从而提高我们预测夏季田鼠数量的能力。这将有助于我们更好地预测如果阿拉斯加目前的变暖趋势继续下去，对田鼠和旅鼠种群冬季繁殖和生存的影响。这个项目的目的是测试一个假设，即北方红背田鼠在冬季改变它们的能量使用和获取模式，以促进它们的生存，这些能量的变化使种群的一个子集在此期间能够繁殖。在这一年中，将从阿拉斯加楚加奇州立森林的自由生活田鼠身上获得有关身体状况、生殖状态和野外代谢率的实地数据，并将确定这些测量结果与环境参数之间的相关性。平行的实验室研究将探讨是什么决定了冬季的繁殖活动。该项目将有助于建立一个合作研究网络，以扩大阿拉斯加的相关研究基础设施。这是阿拉斯加安克雷奇的阿拉斯加动物园和阿拉斯加安克雷奇大学（UAA）之间的第一次重大合作。动物园正在开发展示材料和教育项目，向公众介绍阿拉斯加啮齿动物的研究和一般生物学知识。研究是阿拉斯加动物园的一个新重点，它的参与代表了安克雷奇动物研究基础设施的大幅增加。该项目将建立阿拉斯加两所主要大学，阿拉斯加安克雷奇大学和阿拉斯加费尔班克斯大学之间的合作联系，并将进一步发展UAA的研究生研究。与该项目相关的博士生由UAA和UAF联合招收，并由两个校区的教师指导。除了该项目聘用的博士生和硕士生外，每年夏天至少有一名UAA本科生将通过UAA荣誉项目参加，至少有两名阿拉斯加本土高中学生将作为生物医学部德拉济慈/UD0C项目的一部分参加。