食物诱导长爪沙鼠集群贮食的野外实验设计及其在社群研究中的应用

长爪沙鼠为典型的群居性鼠类。在自然条件下该鼠的集群贮食活动随时可为人工投放的种子食物所导引。本文依据组群个体合作贮食的习性,并结合剪趾和染毛双重标记的重捕跟踪方法设计了着重观测社群结构、群内个体序位、领域边界及相关社群行为的野外实验。据2(X)2年5月对4个相邻洞群的观测结果分析表明,应用此法便于在复杂的社群环境中直接确认组群成员及其属性,亦便于分辨同一组群或不同组群成员之间发生的行为事件及相关过程,且能在重复实验中得以验证。为在野外条件下定量研究长爪沙鼠社群行为提供了一种便捷可靠的观测方法。     

狗獾夜间活动节律是受人类活动影响而形成的吗?基于青海湖地区的研究实例

青海湖地区是目前已知的狗獾分布海拔最高点。为了解狗獾在青藏高原严酷生态环境下的生活史特点, 并验证是否人类干扰造成了狗獾夜行性的假说, 我们利用红外相机技术, 结合无线电遥测和野外调查研究了青海湖湖东地区亚洲狗獾(Meles leucurus)的种群密度、洞穴口的行为及活动节律。结果表明: (1)研究地区狗獾的平均种群密度为1.2 ± 0.6只/km², 其分布受食物丰富度的影响; (2)狗獾基本在夜间活动, 出洞时间集中在20:00-23:00之间, 而回洞时间则集中在清晨4:00-7:00之间, 23:00-4:00之间是狗獾的活动高峰; (3)狗獾离洞前行为主要是警戒行为, 回洞穴时的行为主要是嬉戏行为, 其他行为较少见, 表达具有特定的时间性; (4)人类活动对于狗獾活动没有显著性影响(P < 0.05)。     

湖北石首麋鹿昼间活动时间分配

为探讨性别、年龄和季节对麋鹿(Elaphurus davidianus)行为的影响,2006年9月-2007年10月,作者采用焦点取样法和瞬时记录法,将麋鹿昼间活动归为采食、饮水、运动、休息、警觉、其他行为等六大类型,每月6-8 d对湖北石首麋鹿国家级自然保护区麋鹿种群的昼间活动时间分配进行了跟踪观察.结果表明:麋鹿有晨、昏两个采食高峰和一个午间休息期,各种行为类型所占比例依次是:休息53.40％(±5.59％)、采食22.36(±8.34％)、运动11.23％(±0.63％)、警觉5.03％(±1.76％)、其他行为4.42％(±2.06％),饮水2.65％(±0.74％).不同季节,时间分配变化明显.非参数Kruskal Wallis H检验结果显示(n=120),季节、年龄和性别显著影响麋鹿的活动时间分配.除运动行为(x2=16.856,df=3,P＞0.05)和饮水行为(x2=7.667,df=3,P＞0.05)无显著差异外,采食(x2=15.657,df=3,P＜0.01)、休息(x2=13.173,df=3,P＜0.01)、警觉(x2 =13.887,df=3,P＜0.01)和其他行为(x2=16.317,df=3,P＜0.01)在不同季节所占时间百分比均有极显著差异.对不同性别年龄组的活动时间分配采用两个独立样本的Mann-Whitney U检验,各性别-年龄组间的运动行为所占时间比例有极显著差异(P＜0.01),雄鹿与雌鹿之间的警觉行为有极显著差异(P＜0.01),雄鹿花较多时间用于警觉.幼鹿与成年鹿及亚成年鹿之间的采食行为时间有极显著差异(P＜0.01).不同性别、年龄组在不同季节的昼间活动时间分配的差异采用方差(ANOVA)分析后发现:所有年龄组,夏季与冬季饮水、春季与夏季警觉均存在显著性差异(P＜0.01);成体和亚成体麋鹿,春季与冬季警觉、夏季与冬季运动均存在显著性差异(P＜0.01).     

大熊猫采食行为的研究

本文研究了大熊猫的摄食方式和采食行为。主要摄食方式有吸吮、舔食、啃咬和咬切四种,常取坐立或半躺姿势,通过唇齿舌与前爪配合,以最节省能量和时间的方法进行取食。圈养熊猫日活动与采食时间分别比野外少50％与65％,加之长期供给细软精饲料而使消化机能及自身抵抗力逐渐降低,最终将导致繁殖力下降及寿命缩短。它灵敏的嗅觉在食物寻觅和选择上具有决定性作用,其采食活动可建立条件反射。     

夏秋两季饲养条件下扬子鳄的行为谱和活动节律初步研究

2003年夏秋两季(7-11月间),采用扫描取样法和目标动物取样法,对饲养条件下扬子鳄的个体行为和活动 节律进行了研究。结果表明:夏秋两季饲养条件下扬子鳄的个体行为主要包括休息行为(水中休息、陆地休息、晒 太阳、挠痒、打哈欠、伸懒腰);运动行为(游泳、潜水、爬行、摆尾);摄食行为(摄食、漱口);冲突行为(打斗、对视);嬉 戏行为(嬉戏、堆积);吼叫行为;排泄行为等。 夏季,扬子鳄休息行为的时间最多,日变化规律显示:早晨6:00-7:00为休息高峰期;下午12:30-13:30为潜 水高峰期。秋季,用于晒太阳的时间最多,秋季早晨6:00-7:30为潜水高峰期,且一天中扬于鳄晒太阳活动出现三 次高峰即10:30-11:00,13:30-14:00,16:30-17:00。统计结果表明,夏秋两季潜水、晒太阳和休息3种个体行为差 异性较为显著。在30℃-36℃之间,扬子鳄潜水时间和温度之间呈线性关系。研究结果同时表明,长期人工饲养 对扬子鳄的某些弹性行为如摄食行为等产生了较大影响。在行为描述的基础上,对扬子鳄的有关行为机制进行了 探讨。而影响扬子鳄行为表达的生物因素主要包括年龄和食物资源;非生物因素主要包括空间和生境等。     

灰喜鹊的行为生态学研究Ⅰ．生殖行为

在从南到北的地理分布上,灰喜鹊的繁殖期相应有所推迟。在它们的繁殖区域,人类的影响越大,其巢也建得越高、越隐蔽。这种很强的适应性使得它们在城区和近郊区能够更好地生存和繁殖。北京地区的灰喜鹊在4月中、下旬开始建巢,5月底是产卵高峰期。在孵卵期它们不断地翻动卵,以使其受热均匀。灰喜鹊对卵的数量比对卵的颜色和大小更敏感。孵卵期约15-17天,幼鸟18-20天出巢。在北京大学校园内的灰喜鹊的繁殖成功率约为69.05%.建立了灰喜鹊的发育行为谱。在繁殖期,灰喜鹊的巢彼此靠得较近,形成一个集体生殖领域,共同进行集体防御。     

灰喜鹊的行为生态学研究 Ⅰ．生殖行为

在从南到北的地理分布上,灰喜鹊的繁殖期相应有所推迟．在它们的繁殖区域,人类的影响越大,其巢也建得越高、越隐蔽．这种很强的适应性使得它们在城区和近郊区能够更好地生存和繁殖．北京地区的灰喜鹊在４月中、下旬开始建巢,５月底是产卵高峰期．在孵卵期它们不断地翻动卵,以使其受热均匀．灰喜鹊对卵的数量比对卵的颜色和大小更敏感．孵卵期约１５—１７天,幼鸟１８—２０天出巢．在北京大学校园内的灰喜鹊的繁殖成功率约为６９．０５％．建立了灰喜鹊的发育行为谱．在繁殖期,灰喜鹊的巢彼此靠得较近,形成一个集体生殖领域,共同进行集体防御．     

秦岭蝮蛇的活动节律和反捕行为研究

本文观察研究了秦岭蝮蛇的活动节律和反捕行为.蝮蛇在不同季节活动高峰出现的时间不同,夏季晴天每天上午8点30分～9点30分,下午14点30分～18点30分分别有一活动高峰.下雨前后活动明显加强.蝮蛇的身体姿态也呈明显的节律变化:夏季上午10点以前,身体松散放置,10～18点,身体姿势多呈紧密缠绕或多条堆集在一起.单条蝮蛇多顺时针方向盘卷.蝮蛇受惊吓时的反应行为有收缩、歪头、摆尾、吐舌和逃跑,被捉时的反捕行为有张口、露齿、咬、挣脱,分泌粘臭的物质.     

甘肃盐池湾盘羊夏季食性日活动时间节律及社群行为的研究

本文从研究盘羊食性日活动时间节律及社群行为的角度出发,１９８９年６月到８月在甘肃省肃北县盐池湾乡,每天从８：００－２１：喊０累积追踪观察４２４只盘羊（雄７７只,雌２０７只,亚成体５３只及幼体８７只）活动情况,研究结果如下：①盘羊的食草初步发现隶属１０科２２种。②研究了盘羊日活动时间节律,发现该地区盘羊用于取食的较多,除上午和下午的两个取食高峰外,中午还有一补充取食的小高峰期。③对该期盘羊表现的１４     

大沙鼠洞道利用机制及地面行为时间分配特征

2010年5—11月,在古尔班通古特沙漠南部采用焦点动物取样法研究了大沙鼠(Rhombomys opimus)的昼间洞道利用机制(地面活动强度、进洞频率)以及地面行为时间分配。结果表明:大沙鼠在春夏秋三季地面活动时间占总观察时间的77.62%、66.13%和80.93%,进洞频率分别为0.50、0.31和0.19次.min-1,地面活动强度和进洞频率均具有明显的季节性变化;在其地面行为中,摄食是大沙鼠任一季节最主要的行为,不同季节摄食比例均超过50%;储食是大沙鼠春季两秋两季次重要的行为,其时间比例分别达到了17.19%和25.46%;夏季大沙鼠修饰行为比例明显升高(27.78%),而储食行为比例明显下降(7.1%)。本研究结果说明,食物因子是促使大沙鼠进行地面活动的重要因素之一;另外,温度、生理周期、捕食风险可影响大沙鼠地面活动强度、进洞频率以及地面行为时间分配。     

大沙鼠种群密度与降水量的关系

大沙鼠（Rhombomys opimus）是中亚荒漠、半荒漠草原的典型鼠种,在荒漠草原多呈不连续的岛状分布,多集居于白刺（Nitraria sibirica）、盐爪爪（Kalidium foliatum）丛生的沙地或风成沙丘上的灌丛之间,是农、林、牧以及卫生防疫的重要害鼠。对其种群数量动态目前只有黄健和张大铭（2004）采用Leslie矩阵进行了研究。本文探讨了大沙鼠种群密度与降水量的关系,为其种群动态提供基础资料。     

基于线粒体细胞色素b基因的中国大沙鼠系统地理格局

通过内蒙、新疆、甘肃的41个大沙鼠样品和1个伊朗撒拉克大沙鼠的mtDNA Cytb基因全序列的遗传分析,对我国大沙鼠(Rhombomys opimus)的分子系统地理学进行了初步探讨。结果表明,我国41个大沙鼠样品的Cytb基因包含了50个核苷酸变异位点(占全序列的4.39%),其中转换48个,颠换2个,共定义23个单倍型。在四个地理种群中,内蒙古中部半荒漠区和阿拉善荒漠区的单倍型多样性最高,甘新荒漠区的单倍型多样性最低;北疆荒漠区的核苷酸多样性最高,内蒙古中部半荒漠区的核苷酸多样性最低。分子变异分析(AMOVA)表明,种群间的遗传变异占51.68%,种群内的遗传变异占48.32%。FST统计结果表明,除内蒙古中部半荒漠区与阿拉善荒漠区地理种群之间差异显著外(P<0.05),其它地理种群间的差异均极显著(P<0.01)。基于单倍型的系统树显示,42只大沙鼠形成三支。其中,伊朗撒拉克地区大沙鼠和中国地区大沙鼠之间的亲缘关系比中国两支大沙鼠之间的亲缘关系远;分析表明,中国分布的大沙鼠两支之间分歧时间估计在0.093Ma前。嵌套支分析表明,大沙鼠历史种群曾发生过异域片段化、受阻碍基因流和持续种群扩张事件。种群扩张分析提示大沙鼠在0.0119Ma前曾经历过一次种群扩张事件,种群可能受到末次冰期波动的影响。     

Allometry and ecology of feeding behavior and digestive capacity in herbivores: A review

The purpose of this review is to give some perspective of the factors that influence feeding behaviors and the ability of herbivores to adapt to diets. The most important of these are digestibility, ability to select feed, and achievement of a nutritionally adequate intake. Plant morphology, observed feeding behavior, body size, and gut architecture and size impinge upon these factors. Feeding behavior and dietary specializations are associated with adaptations of gut and mouth parts as well as body size. Parallel and overlapping behaviors occur among herbivores and particularly between ruminants and nonruminants. The conventional classifications of grazers, browsers, and selective feeders are blurred by these evolutionary developments. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Social correlates of stress in adult males of the great gerbil,Rhombomys opimus,in years of high and low population densities

The great gerbil, Rhombomys opimus, is the most social species in the Gerbillinae. The social structure consists of family groups that occupy isolated systems of burrows consisting of one breeding male, from one to seven females, and juveniles. During a year of peak density and one of density decline, we studied the influence of group size, group composition, local density, and distance to the nearest groups on fecal corticosterone and testosterone concentrations in breeding males. We also examined the relationship of hormone concentrations to the survival of males during the summer drought between the spring and the fall. We found that males differed in concentrations of steroid hormones. Concentrations of testosterone were lower whereas those of corticosterone tended to be higher in a year of high population densities compared with higher testosterone and lower corticosterone in a year with a lower density. This finding suggests that stress may be greater in higher densities because of increased social contact. Stepwise regression analysis revealed a positive and significant influence of the number of adult females in a family group on concentrations of fecal corticosterone and testosterone in adult males. Concentrations of corticosterone were also significantly higher in males that disappeared from family groups between the spring and the fall compared with males still alive in family groups in the fall. There was no change in concentrations of testosterone. These results suggest that social interactions within large family groups may be an important source of stress for adult males.     

Social environment and morpho-physiological status of young males in the fall groups of great gerbil (Rhombomys opimus Licht). Effect of adults' presence

The dependence of stress and sex hormone levels, size of mid-ventral skin gland, and body mass of young males on the presence in social groups of adult gerbils (>1 year old) were studied during the fall of 1999 in the non-breeding high density population of the great gerbil (Rhombomys opimus Licht; Bukhara region, Uzbekistan). Contents of corticosterone and testosterone in fecal samples collected from young males in the field were analyzed by non-invasive radioimmunoassay. The fall gerbil groups with adults were of larger size than those without adults. The total number of individuals in a group is positively correlated with concentration of corticosterone in feces of young males. Presence of adult male and especially of adult female suppresses maturation of juvenile males indicated by size of the androgene-dependent mid-ventral gland, but accelerates their total growth. Thus, the social environment influences morpho-physiological characters of young males, effecting rate of their maturation directly or indirectly through the density dependent stress.     

Flexible social structure of a desert rodent, Rhombomys opimus: philopatry, kinship, and ecological constraints

We tested hypotheses based on philopatry, kinship, and ecologicalconstraints to explain sociality in a semifossorial desert rodent,the great gerbil, Rhombomys opimus. Data were collected in thefield in Uzbekistan in the spring and fall of 1996 and 1998–2004.Population densities fluctuated dramatically with high turnoverin both males and females to reveal that dispersal and socialstructure were density dependent. Fewer gerbils dispersed athigher densities and members of family groups dispersed together.A majority of females lived in groups at high densities, butas population densities declined, proportionally more femaleswere solitary. DNA analysis revealed that group-living femaleswere genetically similar, whereas solitary females visited bythe same male, as well as adult males and females in the samefamily group, were usually not genetically similar. Reproductivesuccess as measured by the number of emergent pups and survivalof juveniles during the summer drought was not related to groupsize or whether females were philopatric. A majority of femalesin family groups reproduced, and all females engaged in cooperativebehaviors. We accepted three hypotheses to explain fluctuationsin group formation in the great gerbil: variation in food abundanceand distribution, habitat saturation, and kinship. We concludethat great gerbils are facultatively social. Flexible socialbehavior may be adaptive in unpredictable desert conditions.Females live solitarily under conditions of limited food andhigh mortality that disrupt social behavior and group formationand share territories with female kin under favorable conditionsfor survival and reproduction when kin groups can be maintained.Males adjust to the distribution of females.     

Long-term dynamics of fecal corticosterone in male great gerbils (Rhombomys opimus Licht.): effects of environment and social demography

We examined the relationship among seasonal characteristics of climate, food, and population demography (social structure) and fecal corticosterone (CORT) concentrations over 6 yr in adult males of an arid-adapted species, the great gerbil (Rhombomys opimus Licht., Gerbillidae, Rodentia), as a measure of chronic stress in high, low, and recovering population densities. Results showed yearly differences in the seasonal means of CORT, with the highest concentrations in the year of the highest population density. Analysis of year-specific relationships revealed a positive correlation between mean CORT and total precipitation in January and February and a negative correlation with precipitation in March. In the beginning of spring, when gerbils were in maximum reproductive effort, CORT correlated positively with the saturation of burrow systems and with the number of adult females with an adult male. A linear stepwise regression of CORT in individual males in spring seasons of all 6 yr combined after removal of year effects revealed that CORT depended positively on the number of females associated with a single male but negatively on the abundance of annual herbs. Disappearance of adult males was not related to CORT in most cases. We found no correlation between overall mortality from season to season and mean CORT in either spring (March-May) or fall. In fact, we found a highly negative correlation between mean CORT and the proportion of disappeared males at the beginning of spring. Only at the high population density when cases of probable catastrophic mortality of all adults in the group were excluded was CORT of individual males related positively to their disappearance during the summer drought. Our results suggest that desert rodents with irregular population fluctuations are more sensitive to suppression by external factors than by density-dependent mortality mediated by stress. The favorable feeding and climatic conditions may have compensated for density-dependent increases of CORT and the negative effects it might have had on survival.     

Long-term dynamic of fecal corticosterone and its ecological and social correlates in males of great gerbil (Rhombomys opimus Licht.). Non-invasive approach in studies of stress in natural populations

The relationship between fecal corticosterone concentrations and characteristics of the environment and population demography were studied in adult male gerbils (Rhombomys opimus Licht.) at the southern border of Kyzylkum desert (Reserve "Ecocentre Dzeiran", Bukhara region, Republic Uzbekistan) in spring and fall seasons from 1999 to 2004. We extracted hormones from air-dried fecal samples and analyzed their concentrations by radioimmunoassay (Gerlinskaya et al., 1993). An analysis for year-specific relationships between hormone concentrations and environmental variables of temperature and precipitation using Pearson's r statistic revealed that corticosterone concentrations correlated positively with total precipitation in January and February and negatively with precipitation during March and April. There was also a significant negative relationship between fecal corticosterone and the number of hot days in March (>20 degrees C). Demographic variables that characterized population densities (percent of burrow systems occupied, mean and maximum number of burrow systems/1 ha, number of females in the burrow system) correlated positively with corticosterone concentrations in feces in the beginning of spring, but these relationships were small compared with mean concentrations of corticosterone for the entire spring season that were strongly and positively correlated with number of gerbils, including all pups emerged, in burrow systems owned by one male (within its home range). In contrast, correlation coefficients of corticosterone concentrations with characteristics of feeding resources in the spring were low and negative. In the long-term perspective (interannual comparison), mortality among adult males was highly negatively correlated with mean corticosterone concentrations in the beginning of spring, which is within the period of maximum reproductive effort and potential stress. Body mass was independent of corticosterone concentrations in males in either the beginning of spring, or during the whole spring. In the fall, mean concentrations of fecal corticosterone in males was positively correlated with the number of days from June to October with mean daily temperatures exceeding 30 degrees C, and with percent of burrow systems where at least one adult, > or = 1 year old gerbil had survived. Mortality from fall to spring of the next year and the fall body mass did not correlate with concentrations of corticosterone in feces collected in the fall. When we analyzed corticosterone concentrations in spring seasons of all years combined using a stepwise regression analysis of a sampling of individual males (we analyzed residuals after withdrawal of year effect) on a set of variables representing habitat resources, distances between nearest neighbor males, and variables representing group demography we found low R2 values not exceeding 0.17. Within the six-year period, concentrations of corticosterone in the spring related negatively with abundance of annual herbs and positively with number of females in a male's social group. When only years of high density were analyzed, fecal corticosterone concentrations in males in the spring were again negatively determined by abundance of herbs, as well as by the nearest neighbor distance, and positively determined by the number of females within a male's home range. At the beginning of spring the only determinants were distance to the nearest neighbor male and number of females. In years of low density none of the variables were found to affect corticosterone levels during the whole spring, while in the beginning of spring only partial regression coefficients of abundance of herbs were negative and significant. Stepwise logistic regression analysis revealed positive dependence (P = 0.05) of disappearance of adult males during summer drought on concentrations of fecal corticosterone in the spring, but only when burrow systems with at least one adult (male or female) surviving after the summer were considered. Our results provide evidence ground for the assumption that in a desert rodent with non-regular population fluctuations such as the great gerbil, density may be more suppressed by external factors and not by density dependent mortality mediated by stress. Density dependent increases of stress caused by intense reproductive effort occurred when feeding and climatic conditions were favorable to compensate for negative effects on survival. However, in individual gerbils mortality mediated by stress can take place because we found higher stress in the beginning of spring in males, which did not occur in the population after the summer drought.     

矮岩羊行为生态的初步研究

2006年8月,在四川巴塘县竹巴笼自然保护区对矮岩羊的行为生态进行了研究。共发现矮岩羊7个集群33只,集群平均大小为4.71±1.60只;矮岩羊在夏季9:00~10:00内主要用于卧息,占该段活动时间的76.72%;因子分析显示:矮岩羊对生境的利用具有选择性,影响矮岩羊生境选择行为的主要因子为草因子、灌木因子、坡度和活动基底特征。