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Different escape tactics of two vole species affect the success of the hunting predator, the least weasel

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Abstract

In the ongoing evolutionary arms race between predators and their prey, successful escape from the predator leads to the evolution of improved escape tactics in prey, but also predators become more effective in following and attacking the prey. Antipredatory behavior of prey is considered to be the strongest towards their most dangerous predators. However, prey species can differ both in vulnerability and efficiency of escape to a shared predator. We studied escape reactions of two vole species, the bank vole (Myodes glareolus) and the field vole (Microtus agrestis), under a simulated predation risk of the least weasel (Mustela nivalis nivalis). We conducted a laboratory experiment where a vole was given a possibility to escape from a weasel by fleeing to a horizontal tunnel or climbing the tree. Subsequently to the vole escape decision, we released a weasel to the same tunnel system to test how the weasel succeeded in following the vole. Weasel presence changed the behavior of voles as especially bank voles escaped by climbing. Instead, the majority of field voles fled into the ground-layer tunnel. The different escape tactics of the voles affected the success of the weasel, because climbing voles were less often successfully followed. We suggest that the difference in escape tactics has evolved as an adaptation to different habitats; meadow-exploiting field voles using ground-level escape while bank voles living in three-dimensional forest habitat frequently use arboreal escape tactics. This is likely to lead to different habitat-dependent vulnerabilities to predation in Microtus and Myodes vole species.

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Acknowledgments

We thank J. Koskinen, R. Latvanen, and J. Raatikainen for technical help in building the tube system. We are also grateful to two anonymous reviewers for constructive comments that improved an earlier version of the manuscript and to John Loehr for commenting the manuscript and correcting the language. The study was funded by Finnish Biological Society Vanamo (to SM) and by the Finnish Academy.

Ethical standards

The authors declare that the procedure of this study complies with the current laws in Finland. In addition, the experiment was conducted under the license from the Experimental Animal Committee of the University of Jyväskylä (25/22.5.2006).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 17, 00014, Helsinki, Finland

    S. Mäkeläinen

  2. Konnevesi Research Station, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, 40014, Jyväskylä, Finland

    L. Trebatická & H. Ylönen

  3. Lammi Biological Station, University of Helsinki, Pääjärventie 320, 16900, Lammi, Finland

    J. Sundell

Authors
  1. S. Mäkeläinen
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  2. L. Trebatická
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  3. J. Sundell
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  4. H. Ylönen
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Correspondence to S. Mäkeläinen.

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Communicated by P. B. Banks

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Mäkeläinen, S., Trebatická, L., Sundell, J. et al. Different escape tactics of two vole species affect the success of the hunting predator, the least weasel. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 68, 31–40 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-013-1619-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-013-1619-1

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