Responses of a scatter-hoarding squirrel to conspecific pilfering: a test of the reciprocal pilferage hypothesis

Niu, Hongyu; Wang, Zhiyong; Guixiu, Huang; Peng, Chao; Zhang, Zhibin; Zhang, Hongmao

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2020.10.009

Cited by 7 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Following each trial, enclosures were cleared by removing the animals, seeds, and seed fragments, replacing nests and water cups, and allowed to sit empty for one night before another trial to reduce interference. Similar experimental procedures were also described by Niu et al (2020b).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2018; Niu et al . 2020b). In this study, we presumed that the tags had similar effects on the 2 rodent species and therefore did not cause behavioral differences between them.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Each pair of animals was kept in the enclosure for 10 days because after this time period, the number of seeds handled by the experimental animals did not change significantly among species (also see Niu et al . 2020b). The circumstances in the 10‐day period represent the preliminary results of the 2 rodent species in the field because, in a plot of secondary forests, almost all of the released seeds of A. sibirica were harvested by rodents in 10 days in 2017 and 2018 (unpublished data).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similar to the other widely used markers (e.g. thread, magnet, metal), the tag may provide cues for cache location, but it has been widely used in previous studies (Xiao et al 2006;Gómez et al 2008;Kempter et al 2018;Niu et al 2020b). In this study, we presumed that the tags had similar effects on the 2 rodent species and therefore did not cause behavioral differences between them.…”

Section: Seed Preparationmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Each enclosure was divided into 4 quadrants to generate a Cartesian coordinate system to map caches (x-axis = −4.5 to 4.5 m, y-axis = −4.5 to 4.5 m). We presumed that competitive pressure decreases with the distance to the competitor's nest (Niu et al 2020b). Thus, for a given individual, the quadrant closest to its nest was deemed low in competition, the quadrant closest to the competitor's nest was deemed high in competition, and the other 2 quadrants were deemed medium in competition (Niu et al 2020a,b) (Fig.…”

Section: Enclosuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Asymmetric competition for seeds between two sympatric food hoarding rodents: implications for coexistence

et al. 2022

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Asymmetric competition occurs when some species have distinct advantages over their competitors and is common in animals with overlapping habitats and diet. However, the mechanism allowing coexistence between asymmetric competitors is not fully clear. Chinese white‐bellied rats (Niviventer confucianus, CWR) and Korean field mice (Apodemus peninsulae, KFM) are common asymmetric competitors in shrublands and forests west of Beijing city. They share similar diet (e.g. plant seeds) and activity (nocturnal), but differ in body size (CWR are bigger than KFM), food hoarding habit (CWR: mainly larder hoarding; KFM: both larder and scatter hoarding), and ability to protect cached food (CWR are more aggressive than KFM). Here, we tested seed competition in 15 CWR–KFM pairs over a 10‐day period under semi‐natural enclosure conditions to uncover the differences in food hoarding, cache pilferage, and food protection between the 2 rodents, and discuss the implication for coexistence. Prior to pilferage, CWR harvested and ate more seeds than KFM. CWR tended to larder hoard seeds, whereas KFM preferred to scatter hoard seeds. Following pilferage, CWR increased consumption, decreased intensity of hoarding, and pilfered more caches from KFM than they lost, while KFM increased consumption more than they hoarded, and they preferred to hoard seeds in low and medium competition areas. Accordingly, both of the 2 rodent species increased their total energy consumption and hoarding following pilferage. Both rodent species tended to harvest seeds from the source, rather than pilfer caches from each other to compensate for cache loss via pilferage. Compared to CWR, KFM consumed fewer seeds when considering seed number, but hoarded more seeds when considering the seeds’ relative energy (energy of hoarded seeds/rodent body mass2/3) at the end of the trials. These results suggest that asymmetric competition for food exists between CWR and KFM, but differentiation in hoarding behavior could help the subordinate species (i.e. KFM) hoard more energy than the dominant species (i.e. CWR), and may contribute to their coexistence in the field.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2018; Niu et al . 2020b). In this study, we presumed that the tags had similar effects on the 2 rodent species and therefore did not cause behavioral differences between them.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Seed Preparationmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Enclosuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Asymmetric competition for seeds between two sympatric food hoarding rodents: implications for coexistence

et al. 2022

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Masting benefits seedling recruitment of Armeniaca sibirica through directed dispersal by rodents

Zhang

Yan

Niu

et al. 2022

Forest Ecology and Management

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Effects of subtle variation in forest canopy openness on cache pilferage and its implications for forest regeneration

WANG,

CHEN

2024

Integr. Zool.

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Scatter‐hoarding rodents play important roles in plant regeneration and species coexistence in many forest ecosystems. Cache pilferage, the behavior of rodents seeking or relocating seeds cached by other individuals, is ubiquitous during the scatter‐hoarding process. The effects of canopy openness on cache pilferage have received considerable attention, most of which have focused on the comparison between full canopy cover and completely open areas, such as forest gaps. However, little attention has been given to whether the subtle variation in forest canopy openness affects cache pilferage, although subtle variation in light environments exists in many forests, especially tropical and subtropical forests, where the overall canopy is large and the forest window is relatively small. Here, we directly tested these questions by simulating 400 artificial caches, each containing one seed from four selected tree species, in a subtropical forest in southwestern China. The overall canopy openness of the forest was relatively small (with a mean value of 11.1%), but subtle spatial variation still existed (ranging from 5.7% to 19.5%). Overall, caches with lower canopy openness were more likely to be pilfered and removed faster, although not all species showed the same pattern. Our study highlights that subtle variation in forest canopy openness, even in a closed primary forest, has significant effects on cache pilferage by rodents, which may influence the following seed germination and forest regeneration processes. Additionally, seedling species composition may further be altered because the canopy effects on cache pilferage are species‐specific.

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Responses of a scatter-hoarding squirrel to conspecific pilfering: a test of the reciprocal pilferage hypothesis

Cited by 7 publications

References 54 publications

Asymmetric competition for seeds between two sympatric food hoarding rodents: implications for coexistence

Asymmetric competition for seeds between two sympatric food hoarding rodents: implications for coexistence

Masting benefits seedling recruitment of Armeniaca sibirica through directed dispersal by rodents

Effects of subtle variation in forest canopy openness on cache pilferage and its implications for forest regeneration

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