Long-term field studies on rodents

International audience; Long-term studies on rodents have been conducted for longer periods (up to 70 years) and more generations (upto 88 generations) than for most other mammalian taxa. These studies have been instrumental in furthering ourunderstanding of ecophysiology, social systems, and population and community processes. Studies on Africanstriped mice (Rhabdomys pumilio) revealed that basal blood glucose levels span a far greater homeostatic rangethan previously thought. Studies on American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) demonstrated howendocrine pathways underlying phenotypic plasticity allow individuals to respond to different environments.Long-term studies on African striped mice, marmots (Marmota), tuco-tucos (Ctenomys sociabilis), and degus(Octodon degus) revealed that ecological constraints on dispersal are drivers of group formation in some speciesbut not others. Social flexibility, when the social system of an entire population can change due to individualschanging their social tactics, has been demonstrated in striped mice. Long-term studies on prairie voles (Microtusochrogaster) found that males and females often live in pairs, leading to subsequent studies of the neuralmechanisms underlying social monogamy. Long-term studies on other arvicoline rodents contributed more toour understanding of the factors influencing population dynamics than studies on any other mammalian order.While food availability and predation have been identified as factors influencing population dynamics, no singlefactor alone drives population dynamics in any species. We encourage researchers to incorporate manipulativeexperiments into long-term studies and to take integrative approaches to inform cross-disciplinary theory.