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Behaviour and reproductive fitness of postdispersal in plateau pikas (Ochotona curzoniae) on the Tibetan Plateau

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Abstract

Dispersal, which is a crucial process in animal population and evolutionary ecology, is considered personality dependent. The fitness consequences of dispersal are important. However, they are difficult and rarely measured in wild populations. In this study, we investigated the behaviour and reproductive fitness in a plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) population for two continuous years through mark–recapture experiment, behavioural tests and microsatellite analysis of parentage. Our results determined that around 53.8% males and 16.7% females dispersed to 40.3 and 28.2 m away from their natal family, respectively. The aggression (attack frequency and duration) of philopatric individuals was significantly higher than that of dispersed ones, although significant differences in boldness did not exist between them. For both males and females, the offspring number of philopatric pikas was significantly higher than that of dispersed ones. This result indicated that inbreeding may occur in plateau pikas. Our findings highlighted the importance of integrating behavioural, ecological and genetic analyses to explore the mechanism of dispersal. The findings also suggested that personality may play an important role in life history.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Lai Youyong, Hu Chengzhong and Dang Yongfu for their assistance in the field. We also thank the Nima family for allowing us to work in their grassland. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31770459, 31300320, 31270467), CAS “Light of West China” Program and Basic Research Program of Qinghai Provence (2017-ZJ-761).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key laboratory of adaptation and evolution of plateau biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, Qinghai, 810008, China

    Jiapeng Qu, Qianquan Chen & Yanming Zhang

  2. Qinghai Key Laboratory of Animal Ecological Genomics, Xining, Qinghai, 810008, China

    Jiapeng Qu

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  1. Jiapeng Qu
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  2. Qianquan Chen
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Correspondence to Yanming Zhang.

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The procedure for trapping and handling of plateau pikas followed the guidelines of the Animal Care and Use Committee (Sikes and Gannon 2011) and was complianced with the ethical approval from the Ethics Committee, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (NWIPB-2009-12).

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Communicated by: Shuiqiao Yuan

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Qu, J., Chen, Q. & Zhang, Y. Behaviour and reproductive fitness of postdispersal in plateau pikas (Ochotona curzoniae) on the Tibetan Plateau. Mamm Res 63, 151–159 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-017-0344-y

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