Reciprocal pilfering in a seed-caching rodent community: implications for species coexistence

Dittel, Jacob W.; Perea, Ramón; Wall, Stephen B. Vander

doi:10.1007/s00265-017-2375-4

Cited by 27 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…These strategies are not mutually exclusive and are context-dependent for a given species. While comprehensive, most of the above responses and adaptations have been described from patterns of intraspecific competition/pilferage, and more research is needed to study food competition between interspecific hoarders (but see Leaver & Daly 2001;Thayer & Vander Wall 2005;Vander Wall et al 2009;Penner & Devenport 2011;Zhang et al 2013b;Dittel et al 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Interactions in food-hoarding between sympatric rodents are associated with species coexistence (Leaver & Daly 2001;Price & Mittler 2003Vander Wall et al 2009;Penner & Devenport 2011;Luo et al 2014;Dittel et al 2017;Gu et al 2017;Wang et al 2018). Due to differential capabilities of food competition (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Due to differential capabilities of food competition (e.g. body size), sympatric species usually exhibit asymmetrical interactions in that some species (superior species hereafter) may have distinct advantages over others (subordinate species hereafter) Penner & Devenport 2011;Zhang et al 2014b;Dittel et al 2017). Asymmetrical competition in food-hoarding and pilferage has been observed to occur between intraspecific individuals that have different social statuses (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Zhang et al 2011;Huang et al 2019) and sympatric species that have different body sizes, hoarding habits, daily rhythms and/or diets (e.g. Vander Penner & Devenport 2011;Zhang et al 2014b;Dittel et al 2017;Gu et al 2017). In the case of asymmetrical interactions, context-dependent regulation of hoarding strategy is critically important for survival of the subordinate species that endures heavy cache losses, and coexistence of sympatric species that share similar habitats and diets.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Context‐dependent responses of food‐hoarding to competitors in Apodemus peninsulae: implications for coexistence among asymmetrical species

Niu

Zhang

Wang

et al. 2020

Integrative Zoology

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Superior species may have distinct advantages over subordinates within asymmetrical interactions among sympatric animals. However, exactly how the subordinate species coexists with superior species is unknown. In the forests west of Beijing City, intense asymmetrical interactions of food competition exist among granivorous rodents (e.g. Apodemus peninsulae, Niviventer confucianus, Sciurotamias davidianus and Tscherskia triton) that have broadly overlapping habitats and diets but have varied body size (range 15–300 g), hoarding habits (scatter vs larder) and/or daily rhythm (diurnal vs nocturnal). The smallest rodent, A. peninsulae, which typically faces high competitive pressure from larger rodents, is an ideal model to explore how subordinate species coexist with superior species. Under semi‐natural enclosure conditions, we tested responses of seed‐hoarding behavior in A. peninsulae to intraspecific and interspecific competitors in the situations of pre‐competition (without competitor), competition (with competitor) and post‐competition (competitor removed). The results showed that for A. peninsulae, the intensity of larder‐hoarding increased and the intensity of scatter‐hoarding declined in the presence of intraspecifics and S. davidianus, whereas A. peninsulae ceased foraging and hoarding in the presence of N. confucianus and T. triton. A. peninsulae reduced intensity of hoarding outside the nest and moved more seeds into the nest for larder‐hoarding under competition from intraspecific individuals and S. davidianus. In most cases, the experimental animals could recover to their original state of pre‐competition when competitors were removed. These results suggest that subordinate species contextually regulate their food‐hoarding strategies according to different competitors, promoting species coexistence among sympatric animals that have asymmetrical food competition.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Context‐dependent responses of food‐hoarding to competitors in Apodemus peninsulae: implications for coexistence among asymmetrical species

Niu

Zhang

Wang

et al. 2020

Integrative Zoology

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“…Although little is known about pilfering behavior in most species, it is widely assumed that pilferage is common in both scatter-hoarders and larder-hoarders (Steele & Koprowski, 2001;Wang et al, 2018). Because of the significance of cache pilfering, understanding how cache pilfering occurs is a fundamental question in seed dispersal ecology (Dittel, Perea, & Vander Wall, 2017;Dittel & Vander Wall, 2018). However, studies of the mechanisms of cache pilferage by rodents may encounter methodological difficulties (Jansen et al, 2012), although Daly, Jacobs, Wilson, and Behrends (1992) demonstrated a high rate of cache pilferage by provisioning kangaroo rats with dyed food.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scatter‐hoarding and cache pilfering of rodents in response to seed abundance

Yang

et al. 2019

Ethology

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Seed caching and reciprocal cache pilferage play an important role in the coexistence of food‐hoarding animals. Understanding what affects seed caching and how cache pilferage occurs is an important question in seed dispersal ecology. However, tracking seed fate and cache pilferage presents substantial practical difficulties. Siberian chipmunks Tamias sibiricus always remove the entire pericarp when scatter‐hoarding acorns of Mongolian oak Quercus mongolica, whereas wood mice Apodemus peninsulae often store whole acorns in their caches. These differences in behavior provide an opportunity to investigate unilateral cache pilferage of T. sibiricus from A. peninsulae in response to seed abundance. In this study, tagged acorns were released at the peak and end periods of seed rain from Q. mongolica. This allowed us to investigate seed caching and unilateral cache pilferage at different seed abundances. We found that a higher proportion of acorns were cached at lower level of seed abundance (toward the end of seed rain), mainly because T. sibiricus rather than A. peninsulae scatter‐hoarded significantly more acorns at this time. Cache distances decreased with increasing seed abundance, indicating that acorns were cached further away and into smaller caches at lower seed abundance. Unexpectedly, unilateral cache pilferage by T. sibiricus was not significantly influenced by seed abundance—remaining at around 28% during both periods of high and low seed abundance.

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Incomplete recovery of seeds from scatterhoards by granivorous rodents: Implications for plant establishment

Geluso

Longo

Harner

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

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Granivorous rodents are important components of ecosystems not only because they consume seeds but also because some aid in seed dispersal through seed‐caching behaviors. Some rodents bury seeds in shallow pits throughout territories, called scatterhoards, that individuals recover, pilfer, or transfer to other caches. We suspect some single‐seed caches in environments represent missed seeds from reclaiming or pilfering caches. We documented the sloppiness of seed removal from scatterhoards of soapweed yucca (Yucca glauca) seeds by Ord's kangaroo rats (Dipodomys ordii). We quantified the frequency and location of seeds remaining. In an experiment with artificial caches of three sizes, kangaroo rats harvested 51% of caches after one night, and 53% had incomplete recovery with at least one seed remaining. The greater the number of seeds in caches, the greater frequency of incomplete recovery. In another experiment with natural and artificial caches, 75% of caches were excavated after 8 days, with at least 70% having at least one seed remaining. Regardless of original cache size, a single seed represented the mode for seeds remaining. Incomplete recovery of seeds likely benefits plant establishment, potentially significantly in some systems. Remaining seeds, especially those buried at bottoms of caches, likely will stay undetected in landscapes, yielding propagules for subsequent plant generations. Soapweed yucca has large but light, flat wind‐dispersed seeds, and removal of caches with smaller seeds might have greater frequency of missed seeds during recovery and pilfering by rodents. Our results suggest that scatter‐hoarding granivores also contribute to plant establishment by leaving limited numbers of seeds behind when removing caches, at least in some systems.

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Reciprocal pilfering in a seed-caching rodent community: implications for species coexistence

Cited by 27 publications

References 32 publications

Context‐dependent responses of food‐hoarding to competitors in Apodemus peninsulae: implications for coexistence among asymmetrical species

Context‐dependent responses of food‐hoarding to competitors in Apodemus peninsulae: implications for coexistence among asymmetrical species

Scatter‐hoarding and cache pilfering of rodents in response to seed abundance

Incomplete recovery of seeds from scatterhoards by granivorous rodents: Implications for plant establishment

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