同种或异种干扰对花鼠分散贮藏点选择的影响

Abstract

Siberian chipmunks(Tamias sibiricus) tend to increase scatter-hoarding intensity in face of competitions posited by conspecifics and / or interspecifics;however,little is known how they deposit their caches in response to these competitions.Within outdoor enclosures,we investigated how Siberian chipmunks response to conspecifics(females and males) and interspecifics(Korean field mice,Apodemus peninsulae) in cache site selection.We found:(1) Siberian chipmunks avoided to cache in the areas of high competitions in face of both conspecifics and interspecifics;(2) female chipmunks decreased to cache in the high competition areas,while males increased to cache in the median competition areas when conspecifics presented.These results suggest that when competition is high,Siberian chipmunks tend to reduce hoarding foods in the areas with high competition to avoid pilferage;however,males and females may response differently to conspecifics in cache site selection.