Ji Yu, Yuan Shuai, Fu Heping, Yang Suwen, Bu Fan, Li Xin, Wu Xiaodong
College of Grassland, Resources and Environment, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, China.
Rodent Research Center, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, China.
PeerJ. 2021 Mar 10;9:e10996. doi: 10.7717/peerj.10996. eCollection 2021.
Rodents exhibit seasonal changes in their activity patterns as an essential survival strategy. We studied the activity patterns and strategies of the Siberian jerboa () in the Alxa desert region to better understand the habitats and behavioural ecology of xeric rodents. We conducted an experiment using three plots to monitor the duration, time, and frequency of the active period of the Siberian jerboa using infrared cameras in the Alxa field workstation, Inner Mongolia, China in 2017. The relationships between the activity time and frequency, biological factors (perceived predation risk, food resources, and species composition), and abiotic factors (temperature, air moisture, wind speed) were analysed using Redundancy Analysis (RDA). Our results showed that: (1) relative humidity mainly affected activities in the springtime; temperature, relative humidity and interspecific competition mainly affected activities in the summertime; relative humidity and perceived predation risk mainly influenced activities in the autumn. (2) The activity pattern of the Siberian jerboa altered depending on the season. The activity of the Siberian jerboa was found to be bimodal in spring and summer, and was trimodal in autumn. The activity time and frequency in autumn were significantly lower than the spring. (3) Animals possess the ability to integrate disparate sources of information about danger to optimize energy gain. The jerboa adapted different responses to predation risks and competition in different seasons according to the demand for food resources.
啮齿动物表现出活动模式的季节性变化，这是一种重要的生存策略。我们研究了内蒙古阿拉善荒漠地区长爪沙鼠（）的活动模式和策略，以更好地了解干旱地区啮齿动物的栖息地和行为生态学。2017年，我们在中国内蒙古阿拉善野外工作站使用三个样地进行了一项实验，利用红外摄像机监测长爪沙鼠活动期的持续时间、时间和频率。使用冗余分析（RDA）分析了活动时间和频率、生物因素（感知到的捕食风险、食物资源和物种组成）以及非生物因素（温度、空气湿度、风速）之间的关系。我们的结果表明：（1）相对湿度主要影响春季的活动；温度、相对湿度和种间竞争主要影响夏季的活动；相对湿度和感知到的捕食风险主要影响秋季的活动。（2）长爪沙鼠的活动模式随季节而变化。长爪沙鼠在春季和夏季的活动为双峰型，在秋季为三峰型。秋季的活动时间和频率显著低于春季。（3）动物具有整合不同危险信息来源以优化能量获取的能力。长爪沙鼠根据食物资源需求，在不同季节对捕食风险和竞争采取不同的应对措施。
