Food selectivity of large herbivores in Eastern Mongolia

Abstract

This paper deals with food selectivity in large herbivores of Eastern Mongolia, its factors, and their impact on the herbivore community structure. It is shown that, due to the degradation of vegetation, all studied herbivores display a significant selectivity level conditioned by their morpho–physiological features and spatial distribution. The selectivity seems to provide competitive advantages but no food niche differentiation. We suppose that herbivore communities in Eastern Mongolia, both human-controlled and wild, bear an increase of the small browser portion under pasture degradation. This, in turn, increases the degradation rate. This cyclic interaction shows a possible mechanism for the formation of endogenous crises in herbivore communities and can explain features of extinction events of large herbivores of the “Mammoth fauna.”