雄性海南坡鹿发情期泥浴、沙浴行为及其在繁殖中的作用

Wallowing behavior of Hainan Eld’s deer Cervus eldi hainanus male during the rut and its function in reproduction

2005年2-5月间,在海南省大田国家级自然保护区文昌保护站的养鹿场内对7只半野生雄性海南坡鹿(Cervuseldi hainanus)的泥浴和沙浴行为、进行泥浴和沙浴行为的雄性个体的年龄、等级序位和交配成功次数进行了观察记录,以确定雄性坡鹿的泥、沙浴行为是否与雄性个体的年龄、等级序位和交配行为相关。本实验对以下3个假说进行了检验:(1)性成熟的雄鹿的泥浴行为多于刚刚性成熟的雄鹿;(2)优势雄鹿泥浴的频次和持续的时间多于非优势个体;(3)泥浴的次数与交配次数正相关。研究期间记录到雄性个体的79次泥浴和171次沙浴行为,性成熟雄鹿的泥浴和沙浴的频次显著地高于刚刚性成熟的雄鹿(P<0.01,Friedman nonparametric two-way ANOVA);不同等级序位的雄性泥沙浴持续时间没有明显的差异,但是优势雄鹿的泥浴频次显著高于非优势个体(Wilcoxon signed ranks检验,P<0.01);雄鹿的泥浴和沙浴的频次分别与交配次数显著正相关(r=0.802,P<0.05,n=7;r=0.919,P<0.01,n=7;Pearson检验)。雄性海南坡鹿沙浴与泥浴是雄鹿发情期中的优势炫耀行为,对雄性个体的繁殖成功与否具有重要的意义。

Wallowing behavior and its function was studied on the 7 semi-free ranging Hainan Eld＇ s deer Cervus eldi haianus males in the rut season from February to May 2005 at the Wenchang Reserve Station of the Datian National Nature Reserve （ 110° 55.86＇E, 19°49.83＇ N）. We employed all-occurrence sampling and scanning sampling methods to record the process of wallowing, frequency of wallowing, and display behavior, as well as the mating frequency of each male. We tested three hypotheses： （1） as a visual and olfactory signal behavior, the older males will perform wallowing more frequently than younger ones; （2） older males will take a longer duration in each wallow bout than younger one; （3） there is a positive correlation between frequency of wallowing and dominance display behavior by each male. We recorded 79 wet wallow and 171 dry wallowing bouts and found a significant difference in wallowing frequency between individual stags. The oldest stags performed more wallowing bouts （Friedman nonparametric two-way ANOVA test, P 〈 0.01 ）. A significant difference also existed in the frequency of wallowing between dominant and subdominant stags （Wilcoxon signed ranks test, P 〈 0.01 ）. However, the durations of wallowing bouts performed by different males did not show any difference between older and younger males （ P 〉 0.05 ）. The wallowing frequency in a particular stag was positively related to dominance display behaviors, such as antler rubbing, winning a fight,roaring, monopolizing an estrous female and mating （Pearson correlation, r = 0. 804, P 〈0.05, n = 7）. In addition, a strong correlation was found between wallowing bouts and successful copulations （Pearson Correlation, r = 0.802, P 〈 0.05, n = 7） . These results support our first and third hypotheses but contradict the second one. It is reasonable to consider wallowing as one of the dominance display behaviors of the rutting Hainan Eld＇s deer stags [Acta Zoologica Sinica 53 （3） ： 417 -424, 2007].