Environmental Heterogeneity and the Coexistence of Desert Rodents

Kotler, Burt P.; Brown, Joel S.

doi:10.1146/annurev.es.19.110188.001433

Cited by 331 publications

(182 citation statements)

References 122 publications

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“…Kotler and Brown (1988) suggested that environmental heterogeneity such as spatial and temporal variability in resource productivity and availability, predatory risk, and seasonal climatic factors may potentially allow species coexistence. For example, in their research on water ecosystems, Clarke and Ainsworth (1993) found macrobenthic, meiobenthic and diatom community structures had a good match with abiotic variables based on analysis of similarity matrices between them in estuarine and coastal waters.…”

Section: Effects Of Environmental Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intra- and interspecific interactions and environmental factors determine spatial–temporal species assemblages of rodents in arid grasslands

Jiang

et al. 2014

Landscape Ecol

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Many factors have been shown to affect species assemblages of a community, but studies using long-term spatial-temporal community data are still lacking. In this study, by using population abundance data of 14 rodent species over 25 years in 21 sampling sites, we investigated the effects of taxonomic relation, density dependency, species interaction and climate variation in determining spatial-temporal species assemblages of rodents in arid grasslands of Inner Mongolia in China. By the use of GAMM analysis, we found that intraspecific interactions were more common and more significant than interspecific interactions. Negative interactions between species of the same genus were more common than negative interactions between species of different genera. Dominant species show negative interactions on less abundant or rare species. Positive interactions often occur within rare or less abundant species. Through cluster analysis, we found species assemblages of rodent communities are well explained by assemblages of environmental variables, and species of same genus tend not to occur together as compared to species of the same family. Our results indicate that resource partitioning through intra-or interspecific competition and environmental filtering by climate and vegetation are important forces in shaping the spatial-temporal community structure and the dynamics of small mammal populations in an arid grassland landscape.

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Section: Effects Of Environmental Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intra- and interspecific interactions and environmental factors determine spatial–temporal species assemblages of rodents in arid grasslands

Jiang

et al. 2014

Landscape Ecol

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“…At present, the factors that influence species coexistence are poorly understood, especially among the terrestrial food-hoarding rodents. Several rodent species which are superficially alike in appearance and habit seem to coexist despite relying on the same limited food sources (Chang & Zhang, 2011;Kotler & Brown, 1988). Potentially, behavioral differentiations at the intraspecific or interspecific level may function as a mechanism to facilitate this kind of coexistence (Ben-Natan et al, 2004;Perri & Randall, 1999).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Seed caching and cache pilferage by three rodent species in a temperate forest in the Xiaoxinganling Mountains

Zhang¹,

Shen²,

Liu³

et al. 2013

Zoological Research

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Although differences in food-hoarding tactics both reflect a behavioral response to cache pilferage among rodent species and may help explain their coexistence, differentiation in cache pilfering abilities among sympatric rodents with different hoarding strategies is seldom addressed. We carried out semi-natural enclosure experiments to investigate seed hoarding tactics among three sympatric rodent species (Tamias sibiricus, Apodemus peninsulae and Clethrionomys rufocanus) and the relationship of their pilfering abilities at the inter-and intraspecific levels. Our results showed that T. sibiricus exhibited a relatively stronger pilfering ability than A. peninsulae and C. rufocanus, as indicated by its higher recovery rate of artificial caches. Meanwhile A. peninsulae showed a medium pilfering ability and C. rufocanus displayed the lowest ability. We also noted that both cache size and cache depth significantly affected cache recovery in all three species. T. sibiricus scatter-hoarded more seeds than it larder-hoarded, A. peninsulae larder-hoarded more than scatter-hoarded, and C. rufocanus acted as a pure larder-hoarder. In T. sibiricus, individuals with lower pilfering abilities tended to scatter hoard seeds, indicating an intraspecific variation in hoarding propensity. Collectively, these results indicated that sympatric rodent species seem to deploy different food hoarding tactics that allow their coexistence in the temperate forests, suggesting a strong connection between hoarding strategy and pilfering ability.

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“…Species coexist via mechanisms that avoid competitive exclusion, such as niche separation or resource partitioning (Brown & Lieberman 1973;Schoener 1974;Kotler & Brown 1988). The Hutchinsonian hypervolume niche is defined as the multi-dimensional resource space in which a species lives (Hutchinson 1957).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Hutchinsonian hypervolume niche is defined as the multi-dimensional resource space in which a species lives (Hutchinson 1957). Extant or past interspecific competition (hereafter, competition) may lead to niche separation between coexisting species in one or more dimensions of resource space (Brown & Lieberman 1973;Schoener 1974;Kotler & Brown 1988). Regardless of extant competition or the ghost of competition past as the cause, niche segregation or resource partitioning is necessary for species coexistence in resource-limited systems, and quantification of niche breadth and niche overlap between coexisting species helps to understand the mechanisms underlying species coexistence (Illoldi-Rangel et al 2004;Holt 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatial niche partitioning of coexisting small mammals in sand dunes

Zhong

Wang

Zhou

et al. 2016

Italian Journal of Zoology

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Resource partitioning may allow species coexistence. Sand dunes in the typical steppe of Inner Mongolia, China, consist of desert, shrub and grass habitats, providing an appropriate system for studies of spatial niche partitioning among small mammals. We collected data to verify the niche separation hypothesis that coexisting small mammals would separate into spatial niches, and the productivity hypothesis that the highest species richness and overlap were to be expected in the most productive and diverse shrub habitat of the north-facing slopes, in contrast with the less productive grass and desert habitats of sand dunes. We trapped small mammals on 44 sand dunes in the summer of 1984 using snap traps. We captured 12 species of small mammals among three types of habitats. Cricetulus barabensis was a habitat generalist, present in all three types of habitats. Spermophilus dauricus was present only in the grass habitat, Allactaga sibirica and Dipus sagitta only in the desert habitat, and Apodemus peninsulae primarily in the shrub habitat. The shrub habitat hosted the largest number of small mammal species among the three types of habitats, supporting the productivity hypothesis. Habitat separation is an important mechanism for structuring small mammal communities in Inner Mongolia grasslands.

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Environmental Heterogeneity and the Coexistence of Desert Rodents

Cited by 331 publications

References 122 publications

Intra- and interspecific interactions and environmental factors determine spatial–temporal species assemblages of rodents in arid grasslands

Intra- and interspecific interactions and environmental factors determine spatial–temporal species assemblages of rodents in arid grasslands

Seed caching and cache pilferage by three rodent species in a temperate forest in the Xiaoxinganling Mountains

Spatial niche partitioning of coexisting small mammals in sand dunes

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