Aggressive and investigative behaviors of two sympatric species of echimyid rodents,<i>Proechimys semispinosus</i>and<i>Hoplomys gymnurus</i>, in Central Panama

Dupre, Samuel I.; Lambert, Thomas D.; Adler, Gregory H.; Hegde, Laxman M.; Kennedy, Erica H.

doi:10.1080/03949370.2015.1078414

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Illegal human harvesting is an important anthropogenic stressor (Cordero et al, 2021), with humans removing over 90% of the overall fruit production in other J. chilensis palm groves (Cordero et al unpublished data). Since palm seeds are critical for rodents to overwinter and support the reproductive stage (Yates et al, 1994), resource limitation can be presumed to lead to competitive interactions among species (Dupre et al, 2017). Therefore, rodents can compete for J. chilensis seeds through direct aggressive encounters to the detriment of individual fitness (Dupre et al, 2017) or partitioning niche to allow stable coexistence (Galetti et al, 2016).…”

Section: R E S E a R C H A R T I C L Ementioning

confidence: 99%

“…unpublished data). Since palm seeds are critical for rodents to overwinter and support the reproductive stage (Yates et al., 1994), resource limitation can be presumed to lead to competitive interactions among species (Dupre et al., 2017). Therefore, rodents can compete for J. chilensis seeds through direct aggressive encounters to the detriment of individual fitness (Dupre et al., 2017) or partitioning niche to allow stable coexistence (Galetti et al., 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Temporal and behavioural niche partitioning underlies coexistence within a native‐exotic rodent assemblage exploiting a high‐value limited resource

Cordero,

Gálvez,

Fontúrbel

2024

Austral Ecology

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Niche partitioning is a common strategy species use to avoid competition for limited resources, allowing them to coexist. Rodent species often reduce competition by spatial segregation and trophic differentiation, but behavioural differences, particularly related to foraging, can also be important. Therefore, temporal segregation can also be an important mechanism for species coexistence, as it helps them avoid sub‐optimal habitats. We found three rodent species (the native Octodon degus and O. lunatus, and the exotic Rattus rattus) foraging on endemic palm Jubaea chilensis seeds, a highly valuable but limited resource. We hypothesized that these rodent species could coexist by segregating foraging in time, showing behavioural differences. To test this, we used camera traps to monitor the fate of J. chilensis seeds and rodent activity at 25 feeding stations. From 596 photographic records, we identified 128 as O. degus, 232 as O. lunatus and 236 as R. rattus. Octodon degus had a diurnal activity, while O. lunatus and R. rattus were nocturnal, showing significant temporal segregation. However, we found no spatial association among these rodents. We found significant behavioural differences in decision and handling times and seed removal rates, with O. degus having the greatest seed removal rate. Nevertheless, we found some nocturnal O. degus records in which the three rodent species were co‐foraging, which may suggest that the resource is limited but valuable enough to shift from exploitation to interference competition. Our results suggest that temporal and behavioural differentiation are more important than spatial segregation and trophic differentiation. Thus, niche partition over multiple dimensions might allow for species coexistence.

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