小泡巨鼠对森林种子选择和贮藏的观察

小泡巨鼠是四川省都江堰林区一种占优势的鼠种,取食多种林木种子和果实,可能影响这些树种的更新。于2001年秋季,调查了小泡巨鼠对栓皮栎、袍树、栲树、石栎、青冈和油茶等6种重要林木种子的选择和贮藏,并初步探讨了其对森林更新的影响。结果表明,小泡巨鼠对上述6种林木种子有很强的选择性,种子的营养价值和单宁含量是影响其选择和贮藏的主要因素。小泡巨鼠喜好取食和贮藏单宁含量较低的栲树、油茶和石栎种子,而不喜好取食和贮藏单宁含量较高的袍树、青冈和栓皮栎种子。小泡巨鼠在围栏内分散贮藏了部分种子(特别是石栎和油茶种子),且绝大部分贮藏点仅有1粒种子。小泡巨鼠对种子的选择和贮藏可能对有关林木的更新产生积极影响。     

同种竞争压力对小泡巨鼠贮藏油茶种子行为的作用分析

2002年11～12月,在四川省都江堰地区的亚热带常绿阔叶林内利用人工修建的半自然状态围栏进行实验,研究了小泡巨鼠在有同种竞争存在条件下对油茶种子的埋藏行为。结果表明,小泡巨鼠在有竞争存在条件下,显增加了埋藏油茶种子的量。这一结果支持了“竞争的存在刺激鼠类埋藏”的假说。同时,研究结果表明,小泡巨鼠在有竞争存在条件下,显增加了对埋藏种子的搬运距离,每个贮藏点埋藏种子的数量也有所增加,同时埋藏的生境更多地偏向于遮蔽较好的微生境(草丛底层、灌丛下层)中。这些行为策略有可能有利于种子被埋藏植物的种群扩散。在讨论中,我们还通过比较鸟类和兽类在感觉器官上的差别,分析它们在有竞争存在条件下所采取的不同贮食策略。     

华山松种子大小对啮齿动物贮藏行为的影响及其时空变化

华山松(Pinus armandii)是广泛分布在中国中西部海拔1000～3300m的山地、种子较大(约300mg)的松属植物。为探究华山松种子大小对啮齿动物贮藏行为的影响,于2006年和2007年在滇西北3个不同地点进行种子标记和追踪实验。结果表明,在所有年份和地点,啮齿动物都倾向于贮藏更多的大种子和取食更多的小种子;啮齿动物贮藏大种子的数量,以及平均距离和最大距离均显著高于小种子。3个地点具有不同的啮齿动物群落结构,从而对种子命运产生显著影响。种子命运在两个年份间也存在显著差异。     

小泡巨鼠和社鼠对珍稀濒危植物红豆树种子的捕食和扩散作用

红豆树(Ormosia hosiei)为我国特有的国家Ⅱ级保护珍稀濒危植物,有关动物对种子的捕食和扩散作用是否影响其种群更新目前尚无研究.2009年秋季,我们在四川省都江堰地区利用大型实验围栏研究了小泡巨鼠(Leopoldamys edwardsi)和社鼠(Niviventor confuciamus)对红豆树种子的捕食和贮藏格局,以便了解鼠类在红豆树种子扩散中的潜在作用.结果表明小泡巨鼠和社鼠均取食红豆树种子,但二者贮藏种子的方式不同:社鼠主要集中贮藏种子,对红豆树种子的扩散作用不大,而小泡巨鼠则主要分散贮藏种子,故对红豆树种子有一定的扩散作用.研究结果说明尽管鼠类可通过捕食而降低种子存活,但分散贮藏的鼠种能促进红豆树种子的扩散,从而有利于其种群维持.     

种子类别和埋藏深度对雌性小泡巨鼠发现种子的影响

2001年9～12月,在四川省都江堰林区实验围栏内研究了栓皮栎、袍树、栲树、石栎、青冈和油茶种子与6种埋藏深度对小泡巨鼠雌性成体发现埋藏种子的影响。结果表明：1)由于不同种子在种子大小、营养价值和单宁含量等存在差异,雌性小泡巨鼠对个体最大的石栎种子发现率最高,油茶(脂肪含量高)和栲树(单宁含量低)次之,单宁含量较高的袍树、青冈和栓皮栎则较低;2)埋藏深度与雌性小泡巨鼠发现栓皮栎种子的比例呈显负相关,即随着埋藏深度增加,小泡巨鼠发现埋藏种子的比例则减少。     

种子特征和结实量对啮齿动物取食和扩散种子行为的影响

为了深入了解啮齿动物在不同种子丰富度条件下对不同大小和单宁含量种子的觅食行为策略及其与植物种群更新的关系,在宁夏六盘山区的华北落叶松人工林,研究了不同大小和单宁含量[0%Tannin(T)、2%T、8%T和15%T]的人工种子在模拟结实小年和结实大年对啮齿动物取食和扩散行为的影响.结果表明: 啮齿动物消耗种子速度在结实小年更快,结实大年的种子消耗速度相对缓慢. 种子就地取食率(ISPR)在不同结实年份间无显著差异,扩散后取食率(PRAD)在结实小年显著高于结实大年,但前者的扩散后贮藏率(HRAD)显著低于后者;种子扩散后的取食距离(PDAD)和贮藏距离(HDAD)在结实小年均显著大于结实大年.在结实小年,大种子的PDAD和HDAD均大于小种子,前者在不同大小种子间均差异显著,而后者仅在2%T和15%T的不同大小种子间差异显著;在结实大年,除0%T外的其他单宁含量种子的PDAD和HDAD在不同大小种子间均差异显著.ISPR在中等单宁含量种子最大,高单宁含量种子最小;PRAD分别在结实小年的高单宁含量种子和结实大年的无单宁种子最大;不论在结实大年还是结实小年,HRAD均在高单宁含量种子最大,中等单宁含量种子最小.这说明结实大年可延缓啮齿动物对种子的消耗速率,提高种子的HRAD,但种子扩散距离减小;啮齿动物在结实大年和小年均表现出对大种子的扩散偏好,且大种子被扩散的距离更远;啮齿动物在不同结实年份均偏好于就地取食中等单宁含量种子,而扩散高单宁含量种子.     

胡桃楸种子大小对鼠类分散贮藏行为的影响——基于无线电标记技术

种子大小是影响鼠类对种子扩散和分散贮藏的一个重要因素,但有关种子大小对分散贮藏影响的研究结果尚存在一定争议。2012年9月,在小兴安岭南麓带岭区东方红林场利用微型无线电标记技术研究鼠类对大、小胡桃楸种子的多次分散贮藏,进一步探讨种子大小对种子扩散的影响。结果表明:1)胡桃楸种子大小并不影响鼠类对坚果的选择及分散贮藏偏好。胡桃楸大、小种子被扩散的比例分别为100%和95.6%,鼠类对两类种子的埋藏率也十分接近(χ2=0.045,df=1,P=0.831);2)鼠类对胡桃楸大、小种子的扩散次数无显著差异(F=2.710,df=1,P=0.103),大种子被鼠类扩散的平均次数为1.67±0.10,小种子为1.91±0.10。3)胡桃楸大种子的初次、次级扩散距离均显著高于小种子,种子大小也显著影响扩散的净距离和总距离,大种子比小种子扩散的较远。基于无线电标记技术,研究结果准确评价了种子大小对胡桃楸种子扩散距离的影响,进一步支持了大种子扩散较远的假说。     

贮藏温度和种子含水量对洋葱种子发芽率的影响

贮藏温度低于15℃时,温度对洋葱种子发芽率影响变小,种子含水量低于8.8%时,其衰老过程变慢,高含水量种子在高温下贮存,衰老过程加快,含水量为100%和13%的种子在25℃下贮存分别不到5个月和2个月就失去商品性。     

棕榈种子萌发特性及其贮藏行为的研究

对3个不同种源地的棕榈(Trachycarpus fortunei)种子进行了不同时间的脱水处理和两种不同温度(4℃和-20℃)下贮藏(120d),对其萌发特性和贮藏行为进行了比较分析,结果表明棕榈种子脱水耐性低和对低温较敏感,且含水量较低的种子也受低温伤害。经不同含水量与温度的组合试验后发现,已实验的棕榈种子极可能是一种中间性种子,且其特性受其自然生境的深刻作用,尤其是海拔高度的影响。     

含水量对种子贮藏寿命的影响

建立以收集种子为主体的基因库乃是当今保护植物种质资源最为普遍且可靠易行的方式,在世界库存约 61 0 0 0 0 0份种质资源中,近 90 %是以种子形式保存于约 1 30 0个基因库中。低温贮藏仍是目前基因库中种子种质保存的主要方法。种子含水量和贮藏温度是影响种子在贮藏期间生活力和活力保持的关键因素。传统的经验认为控制温度比控制水分来得安全有效,因而趋向于向低温或超低温的贮藏方向发展。国际植物遗传资源研究所（ＩＰＧＲＩ）曾推荐 5%～ 6%的含水量和 - 1 8～- 2 0℃低温作为各国长期保存种子的理想条件。目前,世界各国都把更多的…     

Effects of burrow condition and seed handling time on hoarding strategies of Edward's long-tailed rat (Leopoldamys edwardsi)

Many hoarding rodents use burrows not only for dwelling and protection from natural enemies, but also for food storage. However, little is known how burrows used by scatter-hoarding animals influence their foraging behaviors. In addition, handling time for a given food item has a fundamental impact on hoarding strategies of these hoarding animals: food items with longer handling time are more likely to be hoarded due to increasing predation risk because the animals spend more time outside their burrows if they consumed such food. By providing with two types of artificial burrows (aboveground vs. underground) and two types of food items (i.e. seeds) with contrasting handling times, we investigated how burrow condition and handling time co-influence hoarding strategies of a key scatter-hoarding rodent, Edward's long-tailed rat (Leopoldamys edwardsi) in large enclosures in southwest China. We found that only a few animals larder-hoarded fewer seeds when only aboveground burrows were available, while over 80% of the animals preferred to use the underground burrows and hoard significantly more seeds in the burrows when both aboveground and underground burrows were provided simultaneously. We also found that seed handling time significantly affected hoarding strategies of the animals: they consumed and/or scatter-hoarded more Camellia oleifera seeds with shorter handling time outside the burrow, but consumed and larder-hoarded more Lithocarpus harlandii seeds with longer handling time in underground burrows. Our study indicates that both burrow types and seed handling time have important impacts on hoarding strategies of scatter-hoarding animals.     

Effects of habitat and season on removal and hoarding of seeds of wild apricot (Prunus armeniaca) by small rodents

The wild apricot (Prunus armeniaca) is widely distributed in the Donglingshan Mountains of Mentougou District of Beijing, China, where its seeds may be an important food resource for rodents. Predation, removal and hoarding of seeds by rodents will inevitably affect the spatio-temporal pattern of seed fate of wild apricot in this area. By marking and releasing tagged seeds of wild apricot, we investigated seeds survival, scatter-hoarding, cache size and seedling establishment, and the preference of micro-habitats used by rodents to store seeds. The results showed that: (1) rodents in this area hoarded food intensively in autumn, as well as in spring and summer. (2) There were significant effects of habitat and season on removal rate of tagged seeds at releasing plots. In both two types of habitats, Low and High shrub, tagged seeds were removed most rapidly by rodents in autumn, at intermediate rates in spring and least rapidly in summer. (3) During three seasons, mean dispersal distance of scatter-hoarded seeds in Low shrub habitat was greater than that in High shrub. Most removed seeds were buried within 21.0 m of the releasing plots. (4) In both two types of habitats, Low and High shrub, rodents tended to carry seeds to US (Under shrub) and SE (Shrub edge) microhabitats for scatter-hoarding or predation. (5) Among the caches made by rodents, most caches contained only one seed, but up to three seeds were observed; caches of 2–3 seeds were common in autumn. (6) By comparing dental marks, we determined that large field mice (Apodemus peninsulae) and David’s rock squirrels (Sciurotamias davidianus) contributed to removal and predation of released tagged seeds. However, only the large field mice exerted a pivotal and positive role on the burial of dispersed seeds. (7) Establishment of three seedlings originated from seeds buried by rodents was documented in High shrub habitat.     

埋藏点深度、间距及大小对花鼠发现向日葵种子的影响

2005 年5 ～6 月,在北京东灵山地区,通过在实验围栏内设置不同深度、间距和大小的埋藏点,研究了花鼠对向日葵种子的发现率。结果表明,花鼠发现埋藏种子的比例随埋藏深度的增加而减少,埋藏深度> 5 cm后,发现比例较低,且不再有明显变化;花鼠发现埋藏种子的比例随埋藏点间距的减小而增加,埋藏点间距<0.5 m后,发现比例较高,且不再有明显变化;花鼠发现埋藏种子的比例随着埋藏点增大而增加,埋藏点种子> 5 g后,发现比例较高,且不再有明显变化。     

Positional behavior of long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) in northern Sumatra

Although the majority of extant primates are described as "quadrupedal," there is little information available from natural habitats on the locomotor and postural behavior of arboreal primate quadrupeds that are not specialized for leaping. To clarify varieties of quadrupedal movement, a quantitative field study of the positional behavior of a highly arboreal cercopithecine, Macaca fascicularis, was conducted in northern Sumatra. At least 70% of locomotion in travel, foraging, and feeding was movement along continuous substrates by quadrupedalism and vertical climbing. Another 14-25% of locomotion was across substrates by pronograde clambering and vertical clambering. The highest frequency of clambering occurred in foraging for insects, and on the average smaller substrates were used in clambering than during quadrupedal movement. All postural behavior during foraging and feeding was above-substrate, largely sitting. Locomotion across substrates requires grasping branches of diverse orientations, sometimes displaced away from the animal's body. The relatively low frequency of across-substrate locomotion appears consistent with published analyses of cercopithecoid postcranial morphology, indicating specialization for stability of limb joints and use of limbs in parasagittal movements, but confirmation of this association awaits interspecific comparisons that make the distinction between along- and across-substrate forms of locomotion. It is suggested that pronograde clambering as defined in this study was likely a positional mode of considerable importance in the repertoire of Proconsul africanus and is a plausible early stage in the evolution of later hominoid morphology and locomotor behavior.     

凉水自然保护区松鼠和星鸦贮食生境选择差异

2003 年9 月30 日～2005 年10 月8 日,在黑龙江凉水国家级自然保护区,应用样方调查法, 采用Vanderploeg和Scavia 选择系数Wi和选择指数Ei作为衡量指标,对松鼠和星鸦贮食生境选择进行了研究。结果表明, 二者贮食生境选择优先顺序略有不同,松鼠偏爱的贮食生境依次是: 云杉林、原始红松林、人工红松林、针阔混交林、人工云杉林、白桦林、针叶混交林、人工落叶松林、阔叶混交林、冷杉林和其它。星鸦对贮食生境的偏爱程度依次为: 人工红松林、原始红松林、云杉林、人工云杉林、针阔混交林、阔叶混交林、白桦林、针叶混交林、人工落叶松林、冷杉林和其它。在对贮食微生境因子的选择利用上, 二者大致相同,只是在对优势灌丛的选择上略有差异, 松鼠优先选择在狗枣猕猴桃优势灌丛内贮藏红松种子, 而星鸦优先选择在刺五加优势灌丛内贮食。松鼠和星鸦贮食生境选择的差异将对随后的红松天然更新过程产生不同的影响。     

红松结实量与松果可利用量对松鼠和花鼠贮食行为的影响

植物通过每隔几年产生大量种子的丰年策略提高贮食动物传播种子效率,但人为采摘活动降低了种子的可利用量,从而影响贮食动物行为及种群动态。为研究红松球果采摘如何通过降低松果可利用量而影响贮食动物行为,我们基于黑龙江凉水自然保护区2003-2012年红松结实量和采摘量的变化,比较分析了结实大小年间松鼠贮点大小、贮点深度、贮食密度和贮藏量、松鼠花鼠种群以及2010年和2011年花鼠洞穴贮藏量的差异。结果显示：结实大年松鼠的平均贮点大小显著高于小年,大贮点比例增加,贮食密度和贮藏量也明显高于结实小年,但随着结实量的增大,球果采摘量增加,使松果可利用量减少,由此结实大年2011年松鼠贮食密度并未随结实量增加而增加,反而低于2003年和2008年,松鼠遇见率也没有在该结实大年有所增长。而花鼠种群和洞穴松籽贮藏量在结实大年和小年间没有显著差异。研究表明红松球果采摘对松果可利用量和松鼠贮食行为有较大影响,应合理确定大年的采摘量以保证贮食动物的食物丰度,维系红松生态系统健康。     

The effects of hoarding habitat selection of Eurasian red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) on natural regeneration of the Korean pines

Cone-cores discarded by Eurasian red squirrels were used to study the habitat selection of Korean pine-seeds hoarding, in forest patch Nos. 16 and 19 in Liangshui Nature Reserve, China. Ten transects with a total length of 15 km were uniformly set, and data from 343 valid samples were collected in a 369 hm² area. One hundred and eighty four were hoarding samples which were determined according to the cluster analysis based on the number of the cone-cores, while the other 159 were control samples. The principal component analysis, using 11 habitat factors, suggested that the distance from Korean pine forest, forest type, number of Korean pine seedlings, density and type of bush significantly influenced the habitat selection of hoarding by Eurasian red squirrels. The results of Bailey’s method indicated that the squirrels showed (1) preference for natural coniferous forest, natural fir and spruce forest and planted spruce forest; (2) avoidance of planted Korean pine forest and planted larch forest; and (3) random use of natural Korean pine forest. Moreover the distance from the Korean pines in the range of 150–600 m showed no effect on the habitat selection of hoarding by the Eurasian red squirrels. More than 50% of the cone-cores were discarded in either fringe or gap of the Korean pine forest with more cone-cores found at <300 m than at 300 m away (One-Way ANOVA; df = 3, 183, F = 5.76, p = 0.0009). This demonstrated that the Eurasian red squirrels could take the cone-cores out of the Korean pine forest. The density of bushes in samples of hoarding area was significantly lower than that in control samples (Kruskal–Wallis test; df = 1, χ² = 83.99, p < 0.0001). The number of the Korean pine seedlings in samples of hoarding area was significantly higher than that in the control samples (Kruskal–Wallis test; df = 1, χ² = 104.13, p < 0.0001). This illustrated that the hoarding habitat favoured the germination of the Korean pine seedlings. In conclusion the behavior of hoarding Korean pine seeds by the Eurasian red squirrels can promote the regeneration and dispersal of the Korean pines.     

Size and taxonomic constraints determine the seed preferences of Carabidae (Coleoptera)

Several species of carabid beetles are important postdispersal predators of the seeds of herbaceous plants. The preferences of carabids for particular seeds differ, but the factors that determine their choice are little studied. We tested the hypothesis that preferences are determined by taxonomic constraints (carabid species affiliation), and carabid and seed size. The preferences were determined for adults of 30 species of central European field carabids mainly belonging to the tribes Zabrini (17 species) and Harpalini (10 species) (body mass 1–36 mg). In a cafeteria experiment the beetles were offered an excess of seeds from 28 species of dicotyledoneous herbaceous plants (mass 0.1–8.7 mg). The number of seeds eaten during a 5-day experiment was used as an estimate of preference. Mass of the preferred species of seed eaten was positively related to carabid body mass in both tribes. Multivariate analysis indicated three groups of carabid species with marked preferences for particular species of seeds: (i) species of Harpalini favoured mainly the seed of Cirsium arvense and Viola arvensis, (ii) some species of Zabrini the seeds of Asteraceae (Taraxacum officinale, Tripleurospermum inodorum and Crepis biennis) and (iii) other species of Zabrini the small seeds of Brassicaceae and Caryophyllaceae. The species of Harpalini were more generalist and accepted a greater proportion of seed species than Zabrini of the same size. Preferences of carabid seed predators were thus determined by taxonomic and size constraints, as in other groups of predators.