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Time and energy budgets and competition in the common shrew (Sorex araneus L.)

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Summary

The allocation of time to different behaviours (time budgeting) was examined in common shrews on a foraging grid under conditions of no competition or during conditions of apparent competition.

When a confined but detectable competitor was present, several behaviours, but especially those concerned with finding and ingesting prey, increased in their rate of performance. Over an entire experimental period, the number of prey items cached also increased.

A broad analysis of energy expenditure and consumption by shrews showed that both the total amount of energy spent and the amount of energy consumed per unit time increased when a competitor was present. Animals therefore showed marked changes in their time and energy budgeting as a result of perceiving a potential, but not actual, competitor.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Animal Behaviour Research Group, Department of Zoology, University of Nottingham, University Park, NG7 2RD, Nottingham, England

    C. J. Barnard, C. A. J. Brown & Jane Gray-Wallis

Authors
  1. C. J. Barnard
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  2. C. A. J. Brown
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  3. Jane Gray-Wallis
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Barnard, C.J., Brown, C.A.J. & Gray-Wallis, J. Time and energy budgets and competition in the common shrew (Sorex araneus L.). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 13, 13–18 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00295071

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00295071

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