Influence of photoperiod, nutrition and water availability on reproduction of male California voles (Microtus californicus)

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Abstract
Male California voles were maintained in long (14L:10D [L:D; light:dark]) or short photoperiods (10L:14D) for 10 wk and fed a standard diet of rabbit chow and water ad lib. One additional group in each photoperiod received the standard diet plus supplements of spinach 3 times weekly. A 5th group was housed in 14L:10D and fed the standard diet, but for 10 wk water avaliability was restricted to several hours each morning. Testes and seminal vesicles were heaviest in long-day voles fed spinach supplements and lightest in short-day voles fed only the standard diet; the latter animals manifested reduced testicular spermatogenesis. Testicular weights were also depressed in voles with restricted access to water. Photoperiods that simulate those of winter apparently induce regression of the reproductive organs of male California voles but the availability of green vegetation counteracts the inhibitory effects of short daylengths.