布氏田鼠合作贮食行为及其影响因素

The cooperative food hoarding behaviors of Brandt’s voles and their influencing factors

合作贮食是社会性动物应对食物匮乏的重要对策,但其内在的生态学机制尚未阐明。本文以布氏田鼠为研究对象,根据亲缘关系划分为亲缘组和非亲缘组。在人工实验箱中录像统计不同组别合作贮食行为占用时间的差异,探究亲缘关系对合作贮食行为的影响,并利用相关性分析探究亲缘组个体对贮食的贡献—收益关系以及与贮食行为相关的个体特征因素。结果表明,在组间水平上,与非亲缘组相比,亲缘组的布氏田鼠表现更多的合作贮食。在亲缘组个体水平上,不同个体对贮食的参与度和贡献度存在很大差异。个体对合作贮食的付出与其取食的收益呈显著负相关关系,并且个体合作贮食贡献越大,其睾丸指数和睾酮含量降低越显著。研究结果说明,亲缘关系的存在有利于布氏田鼠的合作贮食,但合作贮食贡献大的个体,其繁殖受到了抑制。

Food hoarding is a crucial strategy to cope with the seasonal shortage of food resources in many social animals,but the underlying ecological mechanisms remain unclear.In this study,Brandt’s voles were divided into kin group(from the same family)and non-kin group(from different families).We used video camera to record the cooperative food hoarding patterns of different groups and individuals in experimental boxes,and calculated the time of different behaviors.We used correlation analysis to study the association between cost and benefit for cooperative food hoarding individuals,and its influencing factors.We found,as compared to the non-kin group,Brandt’s voles in the kin group spent more time on cooperative food hoarding behavior.However,cooperative food hoarding behavior differed greatly among individuals in the same kin group.There was a significant negative correlation between time of hoarding food and time of eating food by voles.Voles with more time of hoarding food showed a significant decrease in testicle index and testosterone content.Our study suggests that kinship is essential for maintaining cooperative food hoarding in voles,but the reproduction of cooperators who largely contributed to food hoarding was inhibited.