Wei Caibo, Ma Yijie, Fan Yuquan, Zhi Xiaoliang, Hua Limin
Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecosystem of the Ministry of Education, Engineering and Technology Research Center for Alpine Rodent Pest Control of National Forestry and Grassland Administration, College of Grassland Science, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China.
Gansu Forestry and Grassland Administration, Lanzhou 730070, China.
Animals (Basel). 2025 Aug 5;15(15):2290. doi: 10.3390/ani15152290.
Understanding how prey and predator species partition activity patterns across time and space is essential for elucidating behavioral adaptation and ecological coexistence. In this study, we examined the diel and seasonal activity rhythms of two sympatric rodent species- (Great gerbil) and (Midday gerbil)-and their primary predators, (Pallas's cat) and (Red fox), in a desert-steppe ecosystem on the northern slopes of the Qilian Mountains, China. Using over 8000 camera trap days and kernel density estimation, we quantified their activity intensity and spatiotemporal overlap. The two rodent species showed clear temporal niche differentiation but differed in their synchrony with predators. exhibited a unimodal diurnal rhythm with spring activity peaks, while showed stable nocturnal activity with a distinct autumn peak. Notably, adjusted its activity pattern to partially align with that of , whereas maintained a crepuscular-nocturnal rhythm overlapping more closely with that of . Despite distinct temporal rhythms, both rodent species shared high spatial overlap with their predators (overlap index OI = 0.64-0.83). These findings suggest that temporal partitioning may reduce predation risk for , while co-occurs more extensively with its predators. Our results highlight the ecological role of native carnivores in rodent population dynamics and support their potential use in biodiversity-friendly rodent management strategies under arid grassland conditions.
了解猎物和捕食者物种如何在时间和空间上划分活动模式对于阐明行为适应性和生态共存至关重要。在本研究中，我们在中国祁连山脉北坡的荒漠草原生态系统中，研究了两种同域啮齿动物物种（大沙鼠）和（子午沙鼠）以及它们的主要捕食者（兔狲）和（赤狐）的昼夜和季节性活动节律。通过超过8000个相机陷阱日和核密度估计，我们量化了它们的活动强度和时空重叠。这两种啮齿动物物种表现出明显的时间生态位分化，但与捕食者的同步性不同。呈现出单峰昼夜节律，春季活动高峰，而则表现出稳定的夜间活动，秋季有明显高峰。值得注意的是，调整了其活动模式以部分与的活动模式对齐，而则保持晨昏 - 夜间节律，与的节律重叠更紧密。尽管有明显的时间节律，但两种啮齿动物物种与其捕食者在空间上都有很高的重叠（重叠指数OI = 0.64 - 0.83）。这些发现表明，时间划分可能会降低的捕食风险，而与捕食者的共存更为广泛。我们的结果突出了本土食肉动物在啮齿动物种群动态中的生态作用，并支持它们在干旱草原条件下对生物多样性友好的啮齿动物管理策略中的潜在应用。
