Brandt's vole, (''Lasiopodomys brandtii''), also known as the steppe vole, is a species of

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...

in the family

Cricetidae The Cricetidae are a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes true hamsters, voles, lemmings, muskrats, and New World rats and mice. At over 870 species, it is either the largest or second-largest family ...

. It is native to

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...

s and

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

s in Russia, Mongolia and northern China.

Characteristics

Brandt's vole is about long with a tail up to long. Its ears are small and the short fur is uniform sandy-brown, paler underneath. The tail is entirely brown and there are dense hairs on the hind part of the feet.AgroAtlas
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Distribution and habitat

Brandt's vole is found in

Nei Mongol Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. ...

Jilin ) , image_skyline = Changbaishan Tianchi from western rim.jpg , image_alt = , image_caption = View of Heaven Lake , image_map = Jilin in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_al ...

, and

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

provinces in north-east

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, in

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

and southern

Transbaikal Transbaikal, Trans-Baikal, Transbaikalia ( rus, Забайка́лье, r=Zabaykal'ye, p=zəbɐjˈkalʲjɪ), or Dauria (, ''Dauriya'') is a mountainous region to the east of or "beyond" (trans-) Lake Baikal at the south side of the eastern Si ...

ia in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. Brandt's vole is commonly found in grassland areas. Its typical

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

is dry

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without closed forests except near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the tropical and subtropica ...

s and

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Types of pasture Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, c ...

s. Its sometimes also found in lakeside meadows and river valleys.

Behaviour and ecology

Brandt's vole is a colonial species. Each family establishes a network of burrows with several entrances, long passages, storerooms, and nesting chambers. The voles are active during both the day and night and their behaviour varies at different times of year. They feed on both the underground and aerial parts of plants. Large stores of food are laid up before the winter and the energy intake of the voles seems to be correlated with the length of day. There are four or five broods each year, with each litter consisting of about seven young. Population levels are subject to wide swings. Under unfavourable conditions, this vole can be wiped out of some of the regions in which it is normally found, but when the conditions are right, mass outbreaks can occur. This periodically happens in Mongolia when millions of hectares of pasture are invaded. Under this onslaught, the pastures can become very bare, poor

subsoil Subsoil is the layer of soil under the topsoil on the surface of the ground. Like topsoil, it is composed of a variable mixture of small particles such as sand, silt and clay, but with a much lower percentage of organic matter and humus. The su ...

can be brought to the surface by burrowing activities and coarse

weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, growing where it conflicts with human preferences, needs, or goals.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. Pla ...

s can become established, seriously harming the grazing for domestic animals.

Cold adaptations

When exposed to cold temperatures, voles increase their resting

metabolic rate Metabolism (, from ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cellular processes; the co ...

. This increase is caused by increased activity from mitochondria in the vole's

brown fat Brown adipose tissue (BAT) or brown fat makes up the adipose organ together with white adipose tissue (or white fat). Brown adipose tissue is found in almost all mammals. Classification of brown fat refers to two distinct cell populations with si ...

, as more energy is used in nonshivering

thermogenesis Thermogenesis is the process of heat production in organisms. It occurs in all warm-blooded animals, and also in a few species of thermogenic plants such as the Eastern skunk cabbage, the Voodoo lily ('' Sauromatum venosum''), and the giant w ...

to generate heat. Nonshivering thermogenesis, decreased serum

leptin Leptin (from Ancient Greek, Greek λεπτός ''leptos'', "thin" or "light" or "small"), also known as obese protein, is a protein hormone predominantly made by adipocytes (cells of adipose tissue). Its primary role is likely to regulate long ...

levels, fat mobilization, and

hyperphagia Polyphagia, or hyperphagia, is an abnormally strong, incessant sensation of hunger or desire to eat often leading to overeating. In contrast to an increase in appetite following exercise, polyphagia does not subside after eating and often leads ...

are all associated adaptations that the Brandt's voles undergoes in cold environments. Hyperphagia leading to increased food intake is highest in colder months, but voles expend so much energy during this period that they weigh less in summer months.

References

* *Dai, Xin; Zhou, Ling-Yu; Xu, Ting-Ting; Wang, Qiu-Yue; Luo, Bin; Li, Yan-Yu; Gu, Chen; Li, Shi-Ping; Wang, Ai-Qin; Wei, Wan-Hong; Yang, Sheng-Mei (2020-03-11). "Reproductive responses of the male Brandt's vole, ''Lasiopodomys brandtii'' (Rodentia: Cricetidae) to tannic acid". ''Zoologia''. 37: 1–11. . . {{Taxonbar, from=Q307031 Lasiopodomys Mammals described in 1861 Taxa named by Gustav Radde Taxonomy articles created by Polbot