Metapopulations and Feeding Selectivity of Montane and Long-Tailed Voles (Microtus montanus and M. Longicaudus), and Hantavirus and Plague in the Jackson Hole Small Mammal Communtiy

Abstract

The purpose of the long-term research which began in 1971 on metapopulations of voles is to enumerate patterns in surviorship, reproduction, and morphology across sections of the metapopulations. The study sites for Microtus montanus were chosen to represent primary and secondary habitat and proximate and isolated habitat patches. The purpose of the work which commenced in 1989 is to ascertain how selectively Microtus montanus and M. longicaudus feed, and to assess vegetation as a factor in demographic processes of the two species . The purpose of the more recently initiated study on hantavirus started in 1994 is to ascertain the extent of hantavirus among as many species of small mammals as possible, to identify the strain(s), to understand the presence of hantavirus across species and among the metapopulations of voles, and to assess the potential for human contact. The purpose of the work on plague since 1995 is to test the long-standing hypothesis that voles are a reservoir in the intervals between plague outbreaks among ground squirrels.