Del Arco Sergio, Del Arco Jose María
Faculty of Biology, University of Salamanca, Campus Miguel de Unamuno, 37007 Salamanca, Spain.
Department of Agroforestry Sciences, Higher Technical School of Agrarian Engineering of Palencia, 34004 Palencia, Spain.
Animals (Basel). 2025 Jun 25;15(13):1874. doi: 10.3390/ani15131874.
Three rodent species with similar characteristics coexist in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula (Wood mouse , Algerian mouse and Common vole . This study examines if habitat segregation exists between the species, as a means of preventing the intense competition that may exclude any of these species. One of the three species recently arrived in the area. The other two have been consuming resources for a long time. Our aim is to check whether adaptations have been acquired during this time. To do this, we placed the three rodent species in semi-wild enclosures consisting of three different habitats and fed them acorns from the two most abundant oak species of the area for one week. We estimated the number of acorns and the mass per acorn that each species consumed in each habitat. It was found that each species prefers different habitats. The two species that were first installed in the area participated in acorn dissemination through transport and storage. They also conserved the embryos of the acorns consumed. The newly arrived species did not transport acorns and destroys them during consumption, behaving as a true predator species. The three species segregate their habitats to avoid competition. The two species that have been in the area for a longer time exhibit a relationship with the oaks that is akin to mutualism.
三种具有相似特征的啮齿动物物种共存于伊比利亚半岛中部（林姬鼠、阿尔及利亚小鼠和普通田鼠）。本研究考察了这些物种之间是否存在栖息地隔离，作为防止可能排除其中任何一个物种的激烈竞争的一种手段。这三个物种中有一个是最近才来到该地区的。另外两个已经长期消耗资源。我们的目的是检查在此期间是否获得了适应性变化。为此，我们将这三种啮齿动物物种放置在由三种不同栖息地组成的半野生围栏中，并给它们喂食该地区两种最常见橡树的橡子，持续一周时间。我们估计了每个物种在每个栖息地消耗的橡子数量和每个橡子的质量。结果发现，每个物种都偏好不同的栖息地。最早在该地区定居的两个物种通过运输和储存参与了橡子传播。它们还保存了所消耗橡子的胚。新到的物种不运输橡子，而是在食用过程中破坏它们，表现得像一个真正的捕食者物种。这三个物种分隔它们的栖息地以避免竞争。在该地区存在时间较长的两个物种与橡树呈现出一种类似于互利共生的关系。
