Abramsky Zvika
Department of Biology, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel.
The Institute of Desert Research, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel.
Oecologia. 1983 Mar;57(3):328-332. doi: 10.1007/BF00377176.
Utilization of non-native seeds by seed-eating rodents and ants was studied experimentally in the field. It was found that patterns of granivory in the Israeli deserts are very similar to those reported for the same groups in the deserts of North America. Rodents are more efficient than ants at finding and harvesting seeds. Only rodents can find and harvest seeds that occur below the soil surface.The two taxa appear to rank barley particles on the basis of size. Big seeds are utilized first and the shift to small seeds occurs only after most of the big seeds have been utilized. This result agrees with the prediction of optimal diet theory.
在野外通过实验研究了食种子啮齿动物和蚂蚁对非本地种子的利用情况。研究发现，以色列沙漠中的种子捕食模式与北美沙漠中同一类群的报告模式非常相似。啮齿动物在寻找和收获种子方面比蚂蚁更有效率。只有啮齿动物能够找到并收获土壤表面以下的种子。这两个类群似乎根据大小对大麦颗粒进行排序。大种子先被利用，只有在大多数大种子被利用之后才会转向小种子。这一结果与最佳饮食理论的预测相符。
