视野受阻对东方田鼠觅食行为的影响

植食性小型哺乳动物的觅食行为是对特定生境的适应性产物。食物斑块周边植被对动物视野遮挡是否通过作用于其觅食活动中的警觉而影响摄入率。采用新鲜白三叶叶片构建东方田鼠密集均质食物斑块,以牛皮纸模拟食物斑块周边植被遮挡田鼠视野,测定其在食物斑块上的觅食行为序列过程及行为参数,检验食物斑块周边植被高度对东方田鼠摄入率的影响。结果发现,个体在不同程度视野受阻条件下食物摄入率无显著差异。分析觅食行为参数动态发现,在不同视野受阻条件下,个体能通过调整各采食回合内警觉行为动作的发生频次和持续时间,维持觅食回合内总的觅食中断时间的稳定,进而保证进食时间的稳定。东方田鼠在不同程度的视野遮挡条件下均能通过行为变异和优化使摄入率保持稳定。结果亦充分说明,东方田鼠在警觉强度上的变化不能反映觅食中断所带来的食物收益减损的代价,但觅食活动中各警觉动作的持续时间的变异却能够明确指示个体摄入率的动态变化,因此,以觅食活动中警觉引起的觅食中断时间代价为线索,检验其对摄入率的影响,是评价植食性小型哺乳动物在不同生境觅食适应性策略的有效的方法。

Effects of vision obstruction on the foraging behavior in voles (Microtus fortis)

The foraging behavior of small mammalian herbivores is the outcome of adaption to specific habitats. It is unknown whether vision obstruction caused by plants surrounding food patches affects foraging vigilance in small mammalian herbivores, resulting in variations in their intake rates. To evaluate the effects of the height of surrounding obstructs on the behavior sequence and intake rate of voles (Microtus fortis), we devised concentrated food patches of fresh leaves of clover (Trifolium repens) that were obstructed by three heights of brown paper to imitate the vegetation obstruction to vole vision around the food patches. The sequence and parameters of vole foraging behavior were measured to examine the effect of vegetation heights on their intake rate. No significant difference was detected in the foraging subject with different heights of obstruction in foraging behavior. The dynamic analysis of variation in foraging behavior parameters showed that in each biting bout, individuals maintained the total foraging interruption time by modulating the frequency and duration of vigilance behavior in each foraging bout, thus maintaining a steady ingestion time. The results also indicated that the voles maintained their intake rates at different levels of vision obstruction via altering and optimizing their behavior. These results verified the instantaneously dynamic change of energy gain by measuring the actual foraging interruption time caused by vigilant behavior. The variation in vigilance intensity, i.e., vigilance frequency, in voles did not reflect the cost of decreasing food intake caused by foraging interruption, rather the duration of vigilance action in foraging processes was a reliable indicator of dynamic change in intake rates. Consequently, investigating the effects of vigilance behavior on intake rates by measuring the foraging cost caused by the foraging interruption time as an indicator could be an effective way to evaluate adaptive foraging strategies in different situations in small mammalian herbivores.