Abstract
Understanding rodent seed caching behavior is critical for effective forest management and conservation. While it is well established that rodent feeding behavior is strongly affected by seed traits and insect infestation of seeds, there is still a knowledge gap on how these factors affect rodent feeding behavior. Here we conducted a series of experiments to investigate the feeding and hoarding preferences of two sympatric rodent species, the Chinese white-bellied rat (Niviventer confucianus) and South China field mouse (Apodemus draco) in response to Chinese chestnuts (Castanea mollissima) of contrasting seed size and insect infestation. When only sound nuts (not infested nuts) were provided, both species preferentially consumed larger nuts, esp. the larger N. confucianus showed more pronounced selective preference for larger nuts than the smaller A. draco. When sound and insect-infested nuts of equal size were provided, neither species selected for sound over insect-infested nuts, but infested seeds were more frequently consumed in situ. If nuts of differing size and infestation status were provided, rodents preferred to eat and hoard larger seeds regardless of insect infestation. Overall, however, infested seeds were more often consumed immediately in situ while sound seeds were more often consumed ex situ or cached. Our results thus support the seed size hypothesis, but show little evidence for the insect infestation hypothesis, and highlight that food preferences and optimal foraging decisions differ between sympatric rodent species.
Significance statement
Rodent caching and feeding behaviors are strongly affected by co-varying seed traits such as size and insect infestation, which in turn regulate seed survival and seedling recruitment. By using semi-natural enclosures, we detected differences in feeding and hoarding behaviors between sympatric rodent species, and their different preferences for seed size and insect infestation. These different preferences may support the seed size hypothesis. Rodents based their foraging decision predominantly on seed size and not insect infestation, preferring to eat and hoard larger seeds regardless of their insect infestation. We suggest that the differences in feeding and hoarding behaviors of sympatric rodent species in relation to seed size and insect infestation should be considered in future field studies, as this will help us to better understand mechanisms that impact forest management and conservation.
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The datasets and codes used in this study are presented in the Supplementary Information.
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Acknowledgements
We are very grateful to Prof. Christina and Chris for their valuable comments and language editing on earlier drafts of this manuscript. We thank the Foping National Nature Reserve for support. We also thank the anonymous referees for their comments, as they greatly improved the quality of this manuscript.
Funding
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32172436; 31901085), the Shaanxi Key Research and Development Program (2021NY-042), the Shaanxi Natural Science Foundation (2021JQ-841), the Science and Technology Program of Shaanxi Academy of Science (2020 K-21; 2022 K-06; 2022 K-16), the Science and Technology Innovation Program of Shaanxi Academy of Forestry (SXLK2020-0209), and the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program (STEP, 2019QZKK0501).
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XLA and XH conceived the ideas. XLA, XH, and GC designed the experiments. BZ, TF, NH, JW, XNC, and MQ collected the data; XLA, JDZ, and XH analyzed the data; and XLA, XH, JW, and XNC led the writing of the manuscript. All authors contributed to drafts and gave final approval for publication.
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In this study, animal trapping, feeding experiments, and housing conditions adhered to the ASAB/ABS Guidelines for the Use of Animals in Research. The whole research process was approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Shaanxi Institute of Zoology (SIZ-IACUC-Protocol No. 18–15). No animals died in the experiments, and all experimental individuals were released at the original sites of capture following a health inspection by a veterinarian once the experiments were finished.
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An, XL., Zhang, B., Feng, T. et al. Chestnut caching behavior of Chinese white-bellied rats (Niviventer confucianus) and South China field mice (Apodemus draco): effects of seed size and insect infestation. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 76, 140 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-022-03247-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-022-03247-w