Minta Steven C
Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Biology, University of California, 95616, Davis, CA, USA.
Oecologia. 1993 Dec;96(3):402-409. doi: 10.1007/BF00317511.
I tested the following hypotheses of territorial polygyny on badgers (Taxidea taxus: Carnivora; Mustelidae): Competition among adult females for food should result in intrasexual territoriality, while male competition for females should result in larger territories that encompass multiple female territories. The sagebrush-grassland study area (Wyoming, USA) contained a depauperate terrestrial fauna with a dense badger population preying on high densities of ground squirrels (Spermophilus armatus). Implant telemetry generated locations for analysis of home range and spatio-temporal interaction. During the summer breeding season males doubled movement rates and nearly tripled home range areas to overlap those of females. Before and after the breeding season, males reduced their home ranges to sizes nearer those of stable female ranges ([Formula: see text]=2.82 km). Unexpectedly, home range overlap between males and females was no different than intrasexual overlap. However, analysis of spatio-temporal interaction revealed that females spatially avoided one another, while males were spatially and temporally attacted to one another, similar to that of male-female interactions. Presumably, olfactory mechanisms allow resource tracking and lagged communication. Male-male territoriality was not viable, most likely because the high density of badgers, combined with the severely male-biased sex ratio (1.75:1), effectively increased intruder pressure - as a resource, receptive females were too mobile and spatially unpredictable within their home ranges. Consequently, males monitored and searched widely for relatively scarce females during the breeding season with the effect of attracting each other. Male mobility, home range size, and possibly aggression increased with age, suggesting age-related breeding tactics, although dominance could only be surmised. This and other studies suggest how the spatial, temporal, and dominance components of carnivore resource partitioning and sociality will be understood better by unraveling the interplay of olfactory processes, attributes of disparate resources (e.g., food vs. females), seasonality, and population density and age-sex structure.
我对獾（美洲獾：食肉目；鼬科）的领域性一雄多雌制进行了如下假设检验：成年雌性之间对食物的竞争应导致同性间的领域性，而雄性对雌性的竞争应导致更大的领域，这些领域包含多个雌性的领域。在美国怀俄明州的蒿属植物草原研究区域，陆地动物种类稀少，但獾的数量密集，以高密度的地松鼠（阿氏黄鼠）为食。植入式遥测技术生成了用于分析活动范围和时空相互作用的位置数据。在夏季繁殖季节，雄性的移动速度加倍，活动范围面积几乎增至三倍，与雌性的活动范围重叠。在繁殖季节之前和之后，雄性将其活动范围缩小至接近稳定的雌性活动范围的大小（[公式：见正文]=2.82平方千米）。出乎意料的是，雄性与雌性之间的活动范围重叠与同性间的重叠并无差异。然而，对时空相互作用的分析表明，雌性在空间上相互避开，而雄性在空间和时间上相互吸引，这与雄性 - 雌性之间的相互作用类似。据推测，嗅觉机制有助于追踪资源和延迟交流。雄性之间的领域性不可行，很可能是因为獾的高密度，再加上严重偏向雄性的性别比例（1.75:1），有效地增加了入侵者压力——作为一种资源，处于发情期的雌性在其活动范围内过于活跃且空间位置不可预测。因此，雄性在繁殖季节会广泛监测并寻找相对稀少的雌性，结果导致它们相互吸引。雄性的活动能力、活动范围大小以及可能的攻击性随年龄增长而增加，这表明存在与年龄相关的繁殖策略，尽管只能推测其优势地位。这项研究以及其他研究表明，通过揭示嗅觉过程、不同资源的属性（例如食物与雌性）、季节性、种群密度以及年龄 - 性别结构之间的相互作用，能更好地理解食肉动物资源分配和社会性的空间、时间和优势地位组成部分。
