Twice weekly monitoring of a Microtus ochrogaster population and social behavior in alfalfa in eastern Illinois, 1982-1987.

These data were obtained as part of a field study on social behavior of the prairie vole, Microtus ochrogaster in alfalfa. The study was conducted in two adjacent 1-ha alfalfa (Medicago sativa) fields within the University of Illinois Biological Research Area (Phillips Tract). Social groups were monitored over a 63-month period, from March 1982 through July 1984 in field 1 and from October 1983 to May 1987 in field 2, by locating underground and surface nests and subsequent trapping, twice weekly. 4-5 live traps were set around the entrances to underground nests and runways leading to a surface nest of social groups. Each month the study sites were also trapped at a 10-m grid interval as a part of an ongoing 25-year trapping study (Getz, L.L. 2024. Environmental Data Initiative. https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/2dae8f08578ce31e7817c92a0f6acc87).