Long-term hoarding in the Paridae: a dynamic model

Using stochastic dynamic programming we modeled the hoardingand foraging behavior of tits and chickadees, Pandas, that areresident in the boreal forest at high latitudes. Here autumnshave a rich supply of seeds and temperatures are relativelymild, while winters are cold with short days and a low foodsupply. We assumed that parids have a memory of limited durationand that forgotten seeds accumulate in a bank that adds to thegeneral food supply in the hoarder's territory. Our model predictsthat birds should start "high-intensity" hoarding in early autumn,but not before that. Because of mass-dependent costs the birdswill keep their fat levels low during the autumn. When winterarrives they will carry more body fat, both for the long winternights and to hedge against the large effects of weather variationsin winter. After increasing the fat level at the start of winter,fat should gradually increase even more, to compensate for thediminishing food supply. Most hoarding occurs in autumn as away of building up the supply of long-term stores. Remembered,or short-term caches, may hedge against stochastic events inthe environment. Even though conditions are not beneficial forhoarding in winter, the birds still stored in winter to maintainlarger short and long-term hoards if environmental variationincreased. Almost all time in winter that not was spent foragingwas spent perching, mainly to avoid predation     

鼠类对栓皮栎和锥栗种子的贮藏:验证高单宁假说

种子中的单宁影响鼠类的取食和贮藏策略.高单宁假说认为鼠类倾向于优先贮藏单宁含量高的种子、取食单宁含量低的种子.同域分布的鼠类对种子的取食和贮藏选择是否符合高单宁假说的预测尚缺乏足够的实验证据.本研究通过围栏实验研究了四川都江堰地区亚热带常绿阔叶林中的小泡巨鼠(Leopoldamyys edwardsi)、针毛鼠(Niv...     

Role of small rodents in the seed dispersal process: Microcavia australis consuming Prosopis flexuosa fruits

Understanding the functional role of animal species in seed dispersal is central to determining how biotic interactions could be affected by anthropogenic drivers. In the Monte Desert, mammals play different functional roles in Prosopis flexuosa seed dispersal, acting as opportunistic frugivores (endozoochorous medium‐sized and large mammals) or seed hoarders (some small sigmodontine rodents). Our objective was assessing the functional role of Microcavia australis, a small hystricognathi rodent, in the fruit removal and seed deposition stages of P. flexuosa seed dispersal, compared to sympatric sigmodontine rodents. In situ, we quantified fruit removal by small rodents during non‐fruiting and fruiting periods, and determined the distance seeds were transported, particularly by M. australis. In laboratory experiments, we analysed how M. australis stores seeds (through scatter‐ or larder‐hoarding) and how many seeds are left in caches as living seeds, relative to previous data on sigmodontine rodents. To conduct field studies, we established sampling stations under randomly chosen P. flexuosa trees at the Ñacuñán Man and Biosphere Reserve. We analysed fruit removal by small rodents and seed dispersal distance by M. australis using camera traps focused on P. flexuosa fruits covered with wire screen, which only allowed entry of small animals. In laboratory trials, we provided animals with a known number of fruits and assessed seed conditions after removal. Small rodents removed 75.7% of fruit supplied during the non‐fruiting period and 53.2% during the fruiting period. Microcavia australis and Graomys griseoflavus were the main fruit removers. Microcavia australis transported seeds to a mean distance of 462 cm and cached seeds mainly in scatter‐hoards, similarly as Eligmodontia typus. All transported seeds were left in fruit segments or covered only by the endocarp, never as predated seeds. Microcavia australis disperses P. flexuosa seeds by carrying fruits away from a source to consume them and then by scatter‐hoarding fruits and seeds.     

Hoarding of acorns by granivorous mice and its role in the population processes of Pasania edulis (Makino) Makino

In order to evaluate the role of granivorous mice, Apodemus speciosus Temminck and Apodemus argenteus Temminck, in the regeneration of Pasania edulis (Makino) Makino, an evergreen tree, we conducted field studies examining acorn crops, the population dynamics and hoarding behavior of mice and pre- and postdispersal acorn predation in an evergreen broad-leaved forest dominated by P.edulis in Kagoshima, southern Japan. The study was conducted from 1994 to 2000. Apodemus mice selected sound acorns and hoarded them in the soil after transporting them for distances ranging from 5.4 to 19.9m. This behavior appeared to be beneficial to the establishment of seedlings of P.edulis. However, the positive effects were negated by a high rate of recovery of the acorns hoarded by the mice. A life-table analysis of five cohorts of P.edulis indicated that postdispersal predation of acorns by Apodemus mice was a major contributor to annual variation in the number of new seedlings. A considerable number of acorns germinated only in years with a good acorn crop and a low level of resident mice. These results suggest that Apodemus mice are serious acorn predators rather than important dispersers. After germination, acorns were attacked by the acorn borer at a high rate. From these results, we can conclude that acorn production probably makes a smaller contribution to the regeneration of P.edulis than coppice shoot production at the study site.     

围栏条件下岩松鼠对核桃的贮藏

许多动物都能够贮藏食物以应对一定时期的食物短缺。岩松鼠是中国特有的一种啮齿动物,主要分布于华北山地和丘陵地区,对于其食物贮藏行为还了解不多。我们在北京东灵山地区建立了半自然围栏,在围栏一角设置一木质巢箱供其休息,在围栏中心设一食盘(给食处),就岩松鼠对核桃(已预先标记)的贮藏特征进行了观察。每只受试动物在实验开始前6 h断食,于13∶ 00 左右,随机选择1 只岩松鼠,将其放入围栏中适应2 ～ 3 h。随后,在给食处放置20 枚已标记的核桃。于第二天同一时间进入围栏,检查并记录岩松鼠对核桃的处理情况,将埋藏、取食和剩余的核桃全部移出,另置20 枚新的核桃,继续实验。第三天,重复上述检查和记录,将岩松鼠及被其处理的核桃全部移出,清理巢箱、整理围栏。随后放入第二只岩松鼠,重复上述实验过程,如遇恶劣气候,则实验顺延,直至实验结束。结果表明:岩松鼠兼具集中贮藏和分散贮藏两种食物贮藏方式,并且分散方式是其主要的食物贮藏方式;岩松鼠在围栏中选择一定的位置贮藏食物;文中还讨论了可能影响岩松鼠食物贮藏的因素。     

Animal Hoarding in Victoria,Australia: An Exploratory Study

Animal hoarding not only presents significant welfare issues for the animals involved, but also for the hoarders and people in the surrounding community. Existing studies on the issue have primarily been undertaken in the USA and little is known about animal hoarding in other countries, including Australia. It has been estimated that the per-capita prevalence of animal hoarding in Victoria, Australia, is similar to that in the USA, but in order to design effective intervention strategies, the extent of the issue and its characteristics need to be identified. This study analyzes data from 22 recent cases of animal hoarding from a number of agencies in Victoria. The demographics and living conditions of animal hoarders in Victoria and the USA were found to be similar. In contrast, the animals involved in hoarding cases in Victoria were in a better condition than the animals in the USA, with behavioral issues being the leading animal welfare concern in Australia. Behavioral problems resulted in euthanasia of the animals in 45% of the cases studied. All of the agencies included in this study call for a greater involvement or support from human mental health services to fully address the root of the problem. The information from this study can be used to help identify groups at risk to develop effective and appropriate means of prevention of, and intervention in, animal hoarding cases.     

围栏条件下同域分布三种鼠对两种种子的贮藏行为差异

种子贮藏是啮齿动物利用食物资源的一种适应性行为。同域分布的啮齿动物可能进化出不同的贮藏方式和策略。为了解同域分布的啮齿动物的贮藏策略及种子特征在动物贮藏行为决策中的作用,于2014年10-12月,通过半自然围栏实验,在秦岭南坡的佛坪国家级自然保护区内调查了同域分布社鼠、中华姬鼠和甘肃仓鼠对板栗和锐齿槲栎种子的贮藏策略差异,并探讨了2种种子特征在鼠类贮藏行为决策中的作用。结果显示：1）社鼠主要集中贮藏板栗种子,未分散贮藏任何种子;中华姬鼠未贮藏板栗种子,对锐齿槲栎种子同时表现出集中和分散贮藏行为,以集中贮藏为主;甘肃仓鼠对2种种子均表现出集中贮藏行为,未表现分散贮藏行为。2）社鼠和甘肃仓鼠均倾向于集中贮藏有较高营养价值（高蛋白和脂肪）且单宁含量较低的板栗种子;中华姬鼠倾向于分散贮藏单宁含量高的锐齿槲栎种子。3）3种鼠均喜好取食有较高营养价值且单宁含量低的板栗种子,很少取食单宁含量高的锐齿槲栎种子。结果表明同域分布鼠类对不同种子的贮藏方式有所不同,种子特征影响鼠类的取食和贮藏策略。     

Dispersal by rodent caching increases seed survival in multiple ways in canopy‐fire ecosystems

Seed‐caching rodents have long been seen as important actors in dispersal ecology. Here, we focus on the interactions with plants in a fire‐disturbance community, specifically Arctostaphylos species (Ericaceae) in California chaparral. Although mutualistic relationships between caching rodents and plants are well studied, little is known how this type of relationship functions in a disturbance‐driven system, and more specifically to systems shaped by fire disturbance. By burying seeds in the soil, rodents inadvertently improve the probability of seed surviving high temperatures produced by fire. We test two aspects of vertical dispersal, depth of seed and multiple seeds in caches as two important dimensions of rodent‐caching behavior. We used a laboratory experimental approach to test seed survival under different heating conditions and seed bank structures. Creating a synthetic soil seed bank and synthetic fire/heating in the laboratory allowed us to have control over surface heating, depth of seed in the soil, and seed cache size. We compared the viability of Arctostaphylos viscida seeds from different treatment groups determined by these factors and found that, as expected, seeds slightly deeper in the soil had substantial increased chances of survival during a heating event. A key result was that some seeds within a cache in shallow soil could survive fire even at a depth with a killing heat pulse compared to isolated seeds; temperature measurements indicated lower temperatures immediately below caches compared to the same depth in adjacent soil. These results suggest seed caching by rodents increases seed survival during fire events in two ways, that caches disrupt heat flow or that caches are buried below the heat pulse kill zone. The context of natural disturbance drives the significance of this mutualism and further expands theory regarding mutualisms into the domain of disturbance‐driven systems.     

Seasonal hippocampal plasticity in food-storing birds

Both food-storing behaviour and the hippocampus change annually in food-storing birds. Food storing increases substantially in autumn and winter in chickadees and tits, jays and nutcrackers and nuthatches. The total size of the chickadee hippocampus increases in autumn and winter as does the rate of hippocampal neurogenesis. The hippocampus is necessary for accurate cache retrieval in food-storing birds and is much larger in food-storing birds than in non-storing passerines. It therefore seems probable that seasonal change in caching and seasonal change in the hippocampus are causally related. The peak in recruitment of new neurons into the hippocampus occurs before birds have completed food storing and cache retrieval for the year and may therefore be associated with spacing caches, encoding the spatial locations of caches, or creating a neuronal architecture involved in the recollection of cache sites. The factors controlling hippocampal plasticity in food-storing birds are not well understood. Photoperiodic manipulations that produce change in food-storing behaviour have no effect on either hippocampal size or neuronal recruitment. Available evidence suggests that changes in hippocampal size and neurogenesis may be a consequence of the behavioural and cognitive involvement of the hippocampus in storing and retrieving food.     

秦岭南北坡森林鼠类对板栗和锐齿栎种子扩散的影响

森林鼠类的种子贮藏行为对植物的扩散及更新会产生积极的影响。2012和2013年秋季,分别在秦岭北坡的周至国家级自然保护区和南坡的佛坪国家级自然保护区内,调查了森林鼠类对板栗(Castanea mollissima)和锐齿栎(Quercus aliena)种子的取食和扩散差异。结果显示:1)秦岭南北坡的环境因素,特别是植被因素,对鼠类扩散板栗和锐齿栎种子具有重要的影响。南坡较为丰富的壳斗科植被种类,导致2种种子在南坡存留时间均长于北坡,而北坡的扩散取食和丢失率均高于南坡。2)种子特征影响鼠类的取食或贮藏偏好。由于较高的蛋白、脂肪等营养含量,鼠类更喜好取食或搬运贮藏板栗种子。然而,低营养但高丹宁含量的锐齿栎种子仍然被鼠类大量贮藏。3)2种种子在南北坡的扩散历程在两个年份间有很大差异,在食物相对匮乏的年份(2012年),种子被扩散的速度更快且丢失的比率更高。这种差异反映了种子大小年现象对森林鼠类取食和贮藏策略的影响。4)无论在秦岭南坡还是北坡,营养价值含量(如蛋白和脂肪)较高的板栗种子的取食和贮藏距离都明显大于营养价值含量较低的锐齿栎种子,这与最优贮藏空间分布模型的预测一致。     

四种昼行性动物取食和贮藏红松种子的行为比较

于2005年10月1~7日,采用全时焦点观察法研究了黑龙江凉水国家级自然保护区19林班原始红松林内松鼠(Sciurus vulgaris)、星鸦(Nucifraga caryocatactes)、花鼠(Eutamias sibiricus)和普通(Sitta europaea)4种昼行性动物取食和贮藏红松种子的行为。结果表明①4种动物的取食和贮藏过程包括找寻、松塔的处理与种子剥食、松塔和种子的搬运、确定贮藏点、掩藏和警戒等6个环节,但它们在6个环节所耗费的时间均存在较大差异;②4种动物的种子消耗量亦存在较大差异(χ2=144.67,df=3,P<0.05),松鼠、星鸦、花鼠和普通每次平均取食红松种子的数量分别为40.0粒、20.9粒、16.7粒和1.3粒。松鼠与星鸦能够在地面和树冠层取食或收获红松松塔及种子,而花鼠与普通则主要在地面取食;③4种动物贮藏种子的能力亦有较大差异(χ2=68.76,df=3,P<0.05Kruskal-Wallis),松鼠、星鸦和普通主要分散贮藏红松种子,松鼠和星鸦的贮藏量最多,而花鼠很少分散贮藏种子,但能将许多红松种子集中贮藏在少数的贮藏点;④取食松籽的种间竞争强烈,在红松林的垂直高度上,松鼠和星鸦具有高度重叠的取食生态位,花鼠和普通因为种群数量大,对地面种子库的消耗量较大。分析结果显示,松鼠与星鸦是红松种子扩散的传播者,普通是种子消耗者兼传播者,而花鼠则近乎是完全的捕食者。     

Scatter‐hoarding and cache pilfering of rodents in response to seed abundance

Seed caching and reciprocal cache pilferage play an important role in the coexistence of food‐hoarding animals. Understanding what affects seed caching and how cache pilferage occurs is an important question in seed dispersal ecology. However, tracking seed fate and cache pilferage presents substantial practical difficulties. Siberian chipmunks Tamias sibiricus always remove the entire pericarp when scatter‐hoarding acorns of Mongolian oak Quercus mongolica, whereas wood mice Apodemus peninsulae often store whole acorns in their caches. These differences in behavior provide an opportunity to investigate unilateral cache pilferage of T. sibiricus from A. peninsulae in response to seed abundance. In this study, tagged acorns were released at the peak and end periods of seed rain from Q. mongolica. This allowed us to investigate seed caching and unilateral cache pilferage at different seed abundances. We found that a higher proportion of acorns were cached at lower level of seed abundance (toward the end of seed rain), mainly because T. sibiricus rather than A. peninsulae scatter‐hoarded significantly more acorns at this time. Cache distances decreased with increasing seed abundance, indicating that acorns were cached further away and into smaller caches at lower seed abundance. Unexpectedly, unilateral cache pilferage by T. sibiricus was not significantly influenced by seed abundance—remaining at around 28% during both periods of high and low seed abundance.     

The early bird gets the worm: foraging strategies of wild songbirds lead to the early discovery of food sources

Animals need to manage the combined risks of predation and starvation in order to survive. Theoretical and empirical studies have shown that individuals can reduce predation risk by delaying feeding (and hence fat storage) until late afternoon. However, little is known about how individuals manage the opposing pressures of resource uncertainty and predation risks. We suggest that individuals should follow a two-part strategy: prioritizing the discovery of food early in the day and exploiting the best patch late in the day. Using automated data loggers, we tested whether a temporal component exists in the discovery of novel foraging locations by individuals in a mixed-species foraging guild. We found that food deployed in the morning was discovered significantly more often than food deployed in the afternoon. Based on the diurnal activity patterns in this population, overall rates of new arrivals were also significantly higher than expected in the morning and significantly lower than expected in the afternoon. These results align with our predictions of a shift from patch discovery to exploitation over the course of the day.     

啮齿动物的分散贮食行为

食物贮藏是许多动物重要的适应性行为,分散贮藏的食物以植物种子为主。每个贮藏点贮藏数量不等的食物项目。啮齿动物分散贮藏食物之后,可降低食物被其他个体获取的机率,提高对食物资源的控制能力,最终有利于自身的生存和繁殖成功。植物种子被贮藏之后,可减少非贮食鼠类对种子的取食。同时,合适的微生境和埋藏有利于种子萌发、幼苗建成和植物的更新;使植物的分布区得以扩展。探讨啮齿动物的分散贮食行为,能够更好地理解食物贮藏在啮齿动物生活史中的作用,进一步认识鼠类和植物的相互关系以及不同啮齿动物在群落形成中的潜在作用。本综述了啮齿动物分散贮食的研究进展,并提出今后工作中的几点建议。     

啮齿动物作用下退耕地山杏种子扩散与贮藏的季节变化

啮齿动物对植物种子的取食和扩散影响种子的时空分布,继而影响种子的萌发和幼苗建成,因而在森林更新中起着重要作用.在国有济源市愚公林场,选择退耕地生境,于春季、夏季、秋季分别释放人工标记的山杏种子,观察啮齿动物扩散与埋藏山杏种子的季节性差异.结果表明：1）退耕地中的啮齿动物主要包括大林姬鼠、社鼠、黑线姬鼠;2）山杏种子扩散速率在春季显著慢于夏季,夏季显著慢于秋季;3）种子搬运量受季节和种子状态交互作用影响,春季显著少于夏季,夏季显著少于秋季;4）不同季节种子平均搬运距离不同,秋季不同状态种子的搬运距离均大于春季和夏季;5）啮齿动物对山杏种子的贮藏点大小多为1粒种子,少量为2、3粒种子,且贮藏点大小与季节间存在显著的交互作用,春季单粒种子的贮藏点数量显著少于夏季和秋季,而夏季与秋季的贮藏点则倾向于多粒种子;6）在夏季和秋季各有5枚（共释放1800枚）被啮齿动物分散贮藏的山杏种子建成幼苗.