Field-Determined Growth Rates of Prairie Voles (Microtus ochrogaster): Observed Patterns and Environmental Influences

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Abstract
We estimated growth rates of prairie voles from a population located near Lawrence, Kansas. Season, body mass, and sex all significantly affected growth rates. Growth decreased with mass in all seasons, and growth rates were generally higher in spring than in other seasons. Males and females responded differently to changes in mass and season; these differences may be due to changes associated with reproduction. Growth rates correlated positively with temperature, precipitation, and daylength, and negatively with population size. Seasonal patterns of change in growth rates make mass a poor predictor of age in voles. The seasonal variation in vole growth is not as extreme as seasonal change in growth of a sympatric population of cotton rats, and the different patterns result from different ecological and physiological responses to the seasonal Kansas environment.