Social Organizational Modes in Models of Microtine Cycling

Summary

An understanding of the social behavior and organization of microtine rodents is relevant to theory regarding regulation of numbers and population cycles. Unclear or typological concepts of social organization and inadequate data on year — round social structure are barriers to this understanding. The social organizational mode is defined as a subunit of social organization within a species, such as the exclusive territories of breeding female meadow voles. All the modes at any particular time in a population make up the social organization of that population, whereas the social system consists of all the social organizations that exist for a species throughout its range and annual cycle. Defining under what circumstances the modes vary is the approach most likely to show significant linkages between social behavior and population processes. Social tolerance and modal diversity may be closely linked to whether populations are likely to fluctuate.