大沙鼠洞道利用机制及地面行为时间分配特征

Burrow utilization by great gerbil Rhombomys opimus and its behavior time budget on ground surface

2010年5—11月,在古尔班通古特沙漠南部采用焦点动物取样法研究了大沙鼠(Rhombomys opimus)的昼间洞道利用机制(地面活动强度、进洞频率)以及地面行为时间分配。结果表明:大沙鼠在春夏秋三季地面活动时间占总观察时间的77.62%、66.13%和80.93%,进洞频率分别为0.50、0.31和0.19次.min-1,地面活动强度和进洞频率均具有明显的季节性变化;在其地面行为中,摄食是大沙鼠任一季节最主要的行为,不同季节摄食比例均超过50%;储食是大沙鼠春季两秋两季次重要的行为,其时间比例分别达到了17.19%和25.46%;夏季大沙鼠修饰行为比例明显升高(27.78%),而储食行为比例明显下降(7.1%)。本研究结果说明,食物因子是促使大沙鼠进行地面活动的重要因素之一;另外,温度、生理周期、捕食风险可影响大沙鼠地面活动强度、进洞频率以及地面行为时间分配。

From May to November 2011, and by the method of focal animal sampling, this paper studied the burrow utilization （ activity intensity on ground surface and frequency of entering burrow） by great gerbil （Rhombomys opimus ） and its daily time budget of outside burrows in the southern part of Gurbantunggut Desert. The great gerbil spent 77.62%, 66.13% and 80.93% of their daytime outside burrows in spring, summer and autumn, and the frequency of their entering burrow in the seasons were 0.50, 0.31 and 0.19 times. rain-1 , respectively. Both the activity intensity on ground surface and the frequency of entering burrow differed significantly over seasons. Feeding was the main behavior on ground surface, and the proportion of the time budget for feeding was greater than 50% during the three seasons. Storing food was another important behavior in spring and autumn, with the proportion of the time budget being 17.19% and 25.46%, respectively. In summer, grooming became most common after feeding, occupying 27.78% of the time budget. Our results demonstrated that food was the most important factor forcing the great gerbil to stay on ground surface for long time. Air temperature, physiological cycle, and predation risk also affected the ground surface activity, frequency of entering burrow, and daily time budget of the great gerbil.