贮藏点深度、大小及基质含水量对花鼠找寻红松种子的影响

2012年8-10月，在黑龙江省伊春市带岭林业局东方红林场，通过人工围栏控制实验，研究了贮藏点深度、大小及基质含水量对花鼠找寻红松种子的影响。发现：(1) 埋藏深度显著影响花鼠对贮藏点的找寻率，埋藏深度为 1 cm 和 2 cm 的找寻率显著高于 4 cm 和 6 cm。(2) 埋藏点大小对花鼠发现种子也有显著影响，埋藏点越大，花鼠发现贮藏点的比例越高。(3) 高的基质含水量利于花鼠找寻贮藏点。结果表明，围栏条件下食物贮藏点深度、大小及基质含水量的改变能显著影响花鼠对贮藏点的找寻。

Effects of cache depth,cache size and soil moisture on cache discovery of Pinus koraiensis seeds by Tamias sibiricus

Scatter-hoarders usually establish their caches containing one or several seeds across a wide area within their home range. Olfaction plays an important role in cache recovery by scatter-hoarding rodents. The depth and size of caches, and water content of cache substrates are believed to affect seed odor emission and thus olfactory cues to food hoarding animals. We conducted enclosure experiments to study the effects of cache depth, cache size and soil moisture on cache discovery of Pinus koraiensis seeds by Tamias sibiricus in Dongfanghong Forest Dailing District of Heilongjiang Province during August - October, 2012. We found that: (1) The proportions of seed cache discoveries were reduced with the increase of burial depth; seeds buried at 1cm and 2cm deep were more likely to be discovered by T. sibiricus than were those at 4cm and 6 cm. (2) Seed cache recovery rates were also significantly affected by cache sizes; large-sized caches were more likely to be discovered by T. sibiricus than were small ones. (3) High substrate water content facilitated small rodents discovery of the artificial caches. Our results suggest that T. sibiricus rely on olfaction to discover buried seeds under the artificial enclosures and olfaction might play an important role in finding their natural caches. Future work should consider seed odor emission under different substrate conditions.