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Relatedness among females in a peak phase population of Japanese field voles
Author(s) -
Mashima Hiroshi,
Satoh Toshiyuki,
Obara Yoshiaki
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
ecological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.628
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1440-1703
pISSN - 0912-3814
DOI - 10.1007/bf02523780
Subject(s) - philopatry , biology , microtus , seasonal breeder , population , zoology , demography , period (music) , ecology , biological dispersal , physics , sociology , acoustics
Spatial and genetic relationships among females in a peak population of Microtus montebelli were studied by live‐trapping and DNA fingerprinting. In the early period of the spring breeding season, a close genetic relationship was not observed between neighboring overwintered females, while in the late period, a proximity among highly related females and a dispersed distribution among intermediately related females was observed. These associations among relatives did not last very long, however, as female pairs who remained in the neighborhood for more than 150 days, covering two breeding seasons were not relatives. The possibility of cooperation among relatives in this species may thus be low, except among philopatric females in the late period of a single breeding season.