The Social Organization of Taiwan Voles (Microtus kikuchii) in Hehuan Mountains
Date Issued
2012
Date
2012
Author(s)
Liang, Jo-Hua
Abstract
The social organization of the Microtus genus exists in a wide spectrum, from solitary male or female units, to male-female pairs, to communal group formation. Social organization shows great inter-and intra-specific variations. The forming of communal groups may be the preliminary forms of society. Therefore the importance of studies in this field has been of much interest in recent years. The Taiwan vole (Microtus kikuchii), an endemic species of Taiwan, is the dominant small mammal at the Hehuan Mt.. Past research shows overlap in the home range of individuals of the Taiwan vole. This thesis hopes to investigate the following hypotheses: 1. The social organization of the Taiwan voles portrays group formation. 2. The social organization of the Taiwan voles varies with the different seasons. 3. The social organization of the Taiwan voles is correlated to one or more environmental factors. 4. The nest scale contributes most to the population genetic structure of the Taiwan voles. The purpose of this study is to examine the social organization of the Taiwan voles through field studies and molecular tools. Defining the number of individuals and composition captured at the same nest as the social organization, using florescent powder tracking and capture-recapture method, the behavior of the Microtus is investigated in three separate seasons: late-breeding season, non-breeding season, and early-breeding season. The environmental factors are also measured at each nest, hoping to examine the relationship between the social organization and the environmental factors and demographic parameters. Using 10 microsatellite loci, this study also addresses the genetic structure of this species, hoping to investigate the genetic diversity at various scales of population structure. The results show that the social organization shows significantly different patterns between seasons, and that group formation is the main social organization of the early breeding season. The social organizations of the three seasons each correlate to different factors, with litter amount or depth a significant factor in all three seasons. The nest scale does not contribute significantly to the population genetic structure, while the site scale shows higher contribution.
Subjects
Taiwan vole
social organization
population genetic structure
Type
thesis
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