The Role of Microhabitat in Structuring Desert Rodent Communities

Price, M. V.

doi:10.2307/1937678

Cited by 36 publications

(74 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Lockard and Owings 1974) and habitat use (e.g. Rosenzweig and Winakur 1969;Brown and Lieberman 1973;Hutto 1978;M'Closkey 1978;Price 1978;Wondolleck 1978) in response to heterogeneities in predatory risk in time (moonlit hours v. dark hours of the night) and space (bush v. open microhabitat). This has focused theoretical (Rosenzweig 1974;Brown 1988Brown , 1992 and empirical attention (Kotler 1984a, 19846;Brown 1988;Kotler et al 1988Kotler et al , 1991Kotler et al , 1992Kotler et al , 1993bKotler et al , 1993c on how desert rodents trade off food and safety.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Predation in Shaping the Behavior, Morphology and Community Organization of Desert Rodents

Kotler

Brown²,

Mitchell

1994

Aust. J. Zool.

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Predation greatly influences many aspects of the ecology of desert rodents, from foraging behaviour to mechanisms of species coexistence to the evolution of specialised morphologies. Using a foraging-theory approach, we examine consequences of predation for assemblages of desert rodents from North America and the Middle East. In particular, we review experimental evidence that examines the influence of predation on foraging costs and foraging behaviour, explore how predation can act to structure communities, and discuss the role that predation may have played in the evolution of bipedal locomotion. Finally, we compare the importance of predation for the evolution of anti-predator behaviours and morphology, for population dynamics, and for community processes, with its magnitude and heterogeneity.In regard to foraging behaviour, desert rodents treat the risk of predation as a cost of foraging. They combine assessments of food and safety to arrive at foraging decisions, exploiting resource patches less intensively in response to increased predatory risk. The cost of predation can be up to 91% of the foraging costs of desert rodents, but the proportion is greater for Middle Eastern rodents than for North American rodents. In regard to community structure, predation can provide the niche axis as well as the necessary tradeoff for species coexistence. Despite the importance of predation in shaping the foraging behaviour of desert rodents, predation may not always influence species coexistence. Predation contributes to species coexistence at sites in the Sonoran and Great Basin deserts. But in the Negev Desert, where predation costs are the greatest, predation does not provide a mechanism of species coexistence. In regard to bipedal locomotion, predation most likely confers superior ability to avoid predators by improving sprint speed and ability to take evasive action, but at the expense of foraging ability in safe microhabitats. The evolution of bipedality will be favoured by situations where the risk of predation is great: the open microhabitat is riskier than the bush, the richest patches are found in the riskiest places, and rich patches are far apart.The magnitude of predatory risk will affect the evolution of anti-predator behaviour and morphologies. However, the importance of predation in community processes is not determined by its magnitude, but by its heterogeneity in time and space relative to the abilities of potentially coexisting species.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Predation in Shaping the Behavior, Morphology and Community Organization of Desert Rodents

Kotler

Brown²,

Mitchell

1994

Aust. J. Zool.

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“…Much literature is available on coexistence of desert rodents from North America and Israel (e.g., Price 1978a, b, Kotler 1984a, b, c, 1985a, b, Brown 1988, 1989a. However, there is a paucity of similar work from Africa and Asia, which prompted this study in the Namib Desert of Africa.…”

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confidence: 99%

Predation Risk and Competition Affect Habitat Selection and Activity of Namib Desert Gerbils

Hughes¹,

Ward²,

Perrin³

1994

Ecology

117

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JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.Abstract. Microhabitat partitioning based on microhabitat-specific predation rates has been well documented as a mechanism of coexistence in desert rodents. In the Namib Desert, two species of rodent, a nocturnal dune hairy-footed gerbil, Gerbillurus tytonis, and a diurnal striped mouse, Rhabdomys pumilio, co-occur in a vegetated island in the dune sea. The species show a marked preference for the same microhabitat, although gerbils also inhabit a second microhabitat where predation risk is greater. We provide direct experimental evidence for the role of predation risk and both interand intraspecific competition in affecting foraging behavior and habitat selection of gerbils. Using two techniques (tracking and seed trays), we were able to show that gerbils decrease foraging activity in vegetated areas during periods of increased illumination (full-moon periods). Removal of a potential competitor, the striped mouse, as well as removal of conspecifics, resulted in a significant increase in gerbil foraging activity. We propose that high susceptibility to predation results in a shared preference for the safest habitat and leads to competition for limited resources.

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“…As pointed out by Schoener (1986b), this type of experiment in behavioural time lacks contemporaneous controls, but is not therefore untrustworthy if one can assess that the controls are nearly simultaneous (see Price 1978 for an example). This means that we cannot exclude the possibility that some external factor may have affected the experiment.…”

Section: Removal Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat Selection in Zones of Parapatric Contact Between the Common Shrew Sorex araneus and Millet's Shrew S. coronatus

Neet¹,

Hausser²

1990

The Journal of Animal Ecology

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The Role of Microhabitat in Structuring Desert Rodent Communities

Cited by 36 publications

References 47 publications

The Role of Predation in Shaping the Behavior, Morphology and Community Organization of Desert Rodents

The Role of Predation in Shaping the Behavior, Morphology and Community Organization of Desert Rodents

Predation Risk and Competition Affect Habitat Selection and Activity of Namib Desert Gerbils

Habitat Selection in Zones of Parapatric Contact Between the Common Shrew Sorex araneus and Millet's Shrew S. coronatus

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