tundra vole
{{Short description|Species of rodent}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Tundra vole
| image = VOLE, TUNDRA (microtus oeconomus) (9-4-08) gambell, ak -2 (2834490753).jpg
| image_caption = Tundra vole in Alaska
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Alexandromys
| species = oeconomus
| authority = (Pallas, 1776)
| range_map = Microtus oeconomus map.svg
| synonyms = {{species list|Microtus oeconomus|(Pallas, 1776)|Mus oeconomus|Pallas, 1776}}
}}
The tundra vole (Alexandromys oeconomus) or root vole is a medium-sized vole found in Northern and Central Europe, Asia, and northwestern North America, including Alaska and northwestern Canada.{{BioRef |asm |title=Alexandromys oeconomus (Pallas, 1776) |id=1002035}} In the western part of the Netherlands, the tundra vole is a relict from the ice age and has developed into the subspecies Alexandromys oeconomus arenicola.
Description
The tundra vole has short ears and a short tail. Its fur is yellowish brown with paler sides and white underparts. It is typically about {{convert|18|cm|in|abbr=on}} long with a {{convert|4|cm|in|abbr=on}} tail and a weight of about {{convert|50|g|oz}}.
The tundra vole displays sexual dimorphism, with males being larger than the females observably as adults.{{cite journal |last1=Balčiauskas |first1=L. |last2=Balčiauskienė |first2=L. |year=2024 |title=Sexual Body Size Dimorphism in Small Mammals: A Case Study from Lithuania |journal=Biology |volume=13 |issue=12 |pages=1032 |doi=10.3390/biology13121032 |doi-access=free |pmid=39765699 |pmc=11673598 }}
Habitat
The tundra vole is found in damp tundra or moist meadows, usually near water.{{cn|date=March 2025}}
Behaviour and diet
This species makes runways through the surface growth in warm weather and tunnels through the snow in winter. It feeds on grasses, sedges and seeds. It is active year-round. It also digs burrows where it stores seeds and roots, especially licorice root, for the winter.{{cn|date=March 2025}}
Breeding
Female voles have three to six litters of three to nine young in a shallow burrow. The tundra vole has its highest fecundity during May and June, but can prolong its mating season all the way until winter.{{cite journal |last1=Starikov |first1=V.P. |last2=Kravchenko |first2=V.N. |last3=Volodina |first3=O.Y. |title=Breeding and Population Structure of the Root Vole Alexandromys oeconomus Pallas, 1776 (Cricetidae, Rodentia) in the Southern Trans-Ural Region |journal=Biol Bull Russ Acad Sci |volume=50 |pages=2782–2790 |year=2023 |issue=10 |doi=10.1134/S1062359023100266|bibcode=2023BioBu..50.2782S }}
Subspecies
Subspecies are as follows:Witte van den Bosch, R. and Bekker, D. (2009). Verdwijnt de oer-Hollandse lemming? Geschiedenis en toekomst van de noordse woelmuis. Zoogdier 20-4: p.p 3-7. (in Dutch)
- A. o. amakensis - Amak Island tundra vole - Alaska, United States
- A. o. arenicola - Dutch tundra vole - Netherlands
- A. o. elymocetes - Montague Island tundra vole - Alaska, United States
- A. o. finmarchicus - Norwegian tundra vole - Norway
- A. o. innuitus - St. Lawrence Island tundra vole - Alaska, United States
- A. o. medius - Norwegian tundra vole - Norway
- A. o. mehelyi - Central European tundra vole - Austria, Hungary and Slovakia
- A. o. oeconomus - nominate subspecies - widespread
- A. o. popofensis - Shumagin Islands tundra vole - Alaska, United States
- A. o. punakensis - Punuk Islands tundra vole - Alaska, United States
- A. o. sitkensis - Alexander Archipelago tundra vole - Alaska, United States
- A. o. unalascensis - Unalaska Island tundra vole - Alaska, United States
= Genetic variability =
The large number of subspecies of Alexandromys oeconomus is due to the changing environment that they have had to endure since the glacier/ice-age, as well as the isolation of populations.{{cite journal |last1=Kelemen |first1=K. A. |last2=Urzi |first2=F. |last3=Buzan |first3=E. |last4=Horváth |first4=G. F. |last5=Tulis |first5=F. |last6=Baláž |first6=I. |year=2021 |title=Genetic variability and conservation of the endangered Pannonian root vole in fragmented habitats of an agricultural landscape |journal=Nature Conservation |volume=43 |pages=167–191 |doi=10.3897/natureconservation.43.58798|doi-access=free }} Human interaction also greatly affects the environment of this species.{{cite journal |last1=Prakas |first1=P. |last2=Butkauskas |first2=D. |last3=Balčiauskienė |first3=L. |last4=Balčiauskas |first4=L. |year=2024 |title=Low Genetic Variability of the Tundra Vole in Lithuania |journal=Animals |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=270 |doi=10.3390/ani14020270|doi-access=free |pmid=38254439 |pmc=10812506 }} As a result, voles have lost genetic diversity as seen through a lessened heterozygous population for certain genes within separated populations. Roads and structures do not necessarily limit species interaction, but it is the distances created between other communities of voles that limit gene flow.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Arvicolinae}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q703702}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Mammals of the Arctic
Category:Rodents of the United States
Category:Mammals described in 1776
Category:Least concern biota of North America
Category:Fauna of the Holarctic realm