Gérard Timothée, Robin Jean-Patrice, Kletty Florian, Habold Caroline
Université de Strasbourg, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien, Unité Mixte de Recherche 7178, 23 rue du Loess, 67200 Strasbourg, France.
Office de Génie Écologique - O.G.E., 10 rue du Rieth 67200 Strasbourg, France.
Conserv Physiol. 2024 Dec 13;12(1):coae082. doi: 10.1093/conphys/coae082. eCollection 2024.
Modern production-oriented farming has led to a decline in agricultural biodiversity. In Europe, one example of concern is the common hamster , a hibernating rodent once largely distributed in farmlands and now listed as Critically Endangered. The decline of this species is tied to a significant decrease in hamsters' body mass at emergence from hibernation and in reproduction rate. Previous work has shown that monocultures of maize and wheat, which induce severe nutrient deficiencies, are a major cause of this phenomenon. To prevent such deficiencies, we tested in controlled conditions the effect of eight nutritive diets on hamsters' hibernation and reproduction. Diets were selected for their nutritional content and based on farmers' consultation. We tested three lipid-rich associations ('oat-sunflower', 'potato-sunflower' and 'buckwheat-sunflower'), two protein-rich associations ('maize-bean' and 'maize-pea') and an intermediate association ('wheat-soybean'), as well as 'sprouted wheat' and 'sugar beet' Hamsters fed the lipid-rich diets showed a better body condition at the end of hibernation. However, a low reproductive success was recorded in all groups, with only 17% of reproductive trials leading to birth. Nonetheless, the amount of protein ingested by the mothers before reproduction increased birth probability whilst pups' survival to weaning was positively correlated to mothers' body condition. Overall, our results show that hamsters need a balanced diet to ensure their ability to reproduce. Indeed, low-protein diets led to lower birth rates and low-lipid diets led to reduced body condition and subsequently low pups' survival. The 'wheat-soybean' association best fulfilled hamsters' nutritional needs. Overall, these results highlight the need to improve current farming practices to provide a more fulfilling nutritional environment for common hamsters and the farmland fauna.
现代以生产为导向的农业导致了农业生物多样性的下降。在欧洲，一个令人担忧的例子是普通仓鼠，这种冬眠啮齿动物曾经广泛分布在农田中，现在被列为极度濒危物种。该物种的减少与仓鼠冬眠苏醒时体重的显著下降以及繁殖率的下降有关。先前的研究表明，导致严重营养缺乏的玉米和小麦单一栽培是这一现象的主要原因。为了防止这种营养缺乏，我们在可控条件下测试了八种营养饮食对仓鼠冬眠和繁殖的影响。根据营养成分并在咨询农民的基础上选择了这些饮食。我们测试了三种富含脂质的组合（“燕麦-向日葵”、“土豆-向日葵”和“荞麦-向日葵”）、两种富含蛋白质的组合（“玉米-豆类”和“玉米-豌豆”）以及一种中间组合（“小麦-大豆”），还有“发芽小麦”和“甜菜”。喂食富含脂质饮食的仓鼠在冬眠结束时身体状况更好。然而，所有组的繁殖成功率都很低，只有17%的繁殖试验导致产仔。尽管如此，母亲在繁殖前摄入的蛋白质量增加了产仔概率，而幼崽存活到断奶与母亲的身体状况呈正相关。总体而言，我们的结果表明，仓鼠需要均衡的饮食来确保其繁殖能力。事实上，低蛋白饮食导致出生率降低，低脂饮食导致身体状况下降，进而导致幼崽存活率降低。“小麦-大豆”组合最能满足仓鼠的营养需求。总体而言，这些结果凸显了改进当前农业做法的必要性，以便为普通仓鼠和农田动物群提供更适宜的营养环境。
