Growth patterns in free-ranging bank voles, Myodes glareolus (Schreber 1780) from a mountainous area in central Italy

Growth patterns are nearly unknown in free-ranging rodents. Here, we analyse growth patterns (in body length) in relation to sex, year and population density in a population of bank voles, Myodes glareolus, studied by the capture-mark-recapture method at a mountainous site in central Italy during a 12-year period. In our study, (i) male and female bank voles had very similar growth rates and growth trajectories as described by von Bertalanffy growth functions; (ii) growth rates strongly varied interannually; and (iii) growth rates were independent on population densities, i. e., there was no density-dependence mechanism following individual growth rates in bank voles. The general implications of these patterns are discussed.