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Different population responses of three sympatric rodent species to acorn masting—the role of tannin tolerance

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Population Ecology

Abstract

Rodent population dynamics are predicted to respond positively to the masting of acorns, but diverging results have been published. This study tested the hypothesis that population responses to acorn masting vary depending on differences in the tolerance to tannins of different rodent species. The effects of acorn abundance on the rodent population densities were analyzed using a dataset obtained in Hokkaido, Japan. Specifically, population fluctuations of three rodent species (Apodemus speciosus, A. argenteus, and Myodes rufocanus) and the abundance of Quercus crispula acorns have been monitored since 1992. Acorn production in previous years had a positive effect on the annual population growth rates of A. speciosus; however, this trend was not clear in the other two species. Tannin tolerance, assessed by body weight changes in an acorn feeding experiment, exhibited clear differences among the rodent species; namely, the body weight of A. speciosus increased, whereas that of the other two species decreased. The observed responses to acorn masting of populations of the three sympatric rodent species reflected tannin tolerance. It suggests that only populations of species with high tannin tolerance positively respond to acorn masting. Previous studies tend to overlook species-specific abilities of coping with tannins in acorns. Our results emphasize the necessity of evaluating the tannin tolerance of rodents and the tannin content of acorns to understand how rodent population dynamics and acorn production are related.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the staff of the Uryu and Teshio Experimental Forest and the members of the Field Science Center, Hokkaido University, for providing support for the field investigation and constructive discussions. The constructive comments by two anonymous reviewers were helpful in revising the manuscript. All procedures in the field and laboratory were performed in compliance with the laws of Japan and the Guidelines for Proper Conduct of Animal Experiments established by the Science Council of Japan. Funding was provided by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 25,292,095 to T. Shimada.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tohoku Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, 92-25 Nabeyashiki, Shimo-Kuriyagawa, Morioka, 020–0123, Japan

    Takuya Shimada

  2. Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University, North 10, West 5, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan

    Rokuya Onodera & Yuka Akimoto

  3. Field Science Center, Hokkaido University, North 11, West 10, Sapporo, 060-0811, Japan

    Takashi Saitoh

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  1. Rokuya Onodera
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Correspondence to Takuya Shimada.

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Onodera, R., Akimoto, Y., Shimada, T. et al. Different population responses of three sympatric rodent species to acorn masting—the role of tannin tolerance. Popul Ecol 59, 29–43 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10144-017-0570-9

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