Seed Water Content and Its Effect on Rodent Foraging Success

种子含水量及其对啮齿动物觅食成功的影响

• 批准号: 9306369
• 负责人: Stephen Vander Wall
• 金额: $ 7万
• 依托单位: Board of Regents, NSHE, obo University of Nevada, Reno
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1993
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1993-09-01 至 1997-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9306369&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Seed; Water; Content; Its; Effect

9306369 Vander Wall This project examines the interactions between plants, animals, and the physical environment by fluctuations in seed water content and how they influence rodent foraging success. Most seeds are hygroscopic, readily imbibing water whenever the soil becomes moistened. If conditions are unsuitable for germination, the seeds gradually lose moisture as the soil dries out. Consequently, seeds vary in water content over time as the weather changes. Rodents readily find moistened seeds using their olfactory sense but often appear to have difficulty finding seeds when the seed s and the substrate are dry. Despite the well known characteristics of hygroscopic seeds and the demonstrated inability of some rodents to find dry seeds, the detail of how deed/soil moisture influences an animal's ability to find seeds appears to be almost totally unknown. Field & laboratory work focuses on the foraging success of three species of rodents searching for two types of seeds at various controlled or monitored moisture levels. The response curves of rodent foraging success at various levels of seed water content will be determined under controlled conditions. The water content of seeds and soil will be monitored in the field over several weeks and related to rodent foraging success. %%% Plant animal interactions play important roles in population & community ecology, but the role if the physical environment in mediating these int eractions has received little attention. By focusing on caching behavior of rodents, this project contributes to understanding dynamic's of soil seed banks, plant populations & rodent foraging. ***

9306369 Vander Wall 该项目通过种子含水量的波动以及它们如何影响啮齿动物的觅食成功来研究植物、动物和物理环境之间的相互作用。 大多数种子具有吸湿性，只要土壤潮湿，就很容易吸水。 如果条件不适合发芽，种子会随着土壤干燥而逐渐失去水分。 因此，随着天气的变化，种子的含水量也会随着时间的推移而变化。 啮齿动物很容易利用嗅觉找到潮湿的种子，但当种子和基质干燥时往往很难找到种子。 尽管吸湿性种子具有众所周知的特征，并且一些啮齿动物已被证明无法找到干燥的种子，但行为/土壤湿度如何影响动物寻找种子的能力的细节似乎几乎完全未知。 现场和实验室工作的重点是三种啮齿动物在不同受控或监测的湿度水平下寻找两种类型种子的成功觅食。 将在受控条件下确定不同种子含水量水平下啮齿动物觅食成功的响应曲线。 种子和土壤的含水量将在几周内在田间进行监测，并与啮齿动物觅食的成功相关。 %%% 植物动物相互作用在种群和群落生态中发挥着重要作用，但物理环境在调节这些相互作用中的作用却很少受到关注。 通过关注啮齿动物的缓存行为，该项目有助于了解土壤种子库、植物种群和啮齿动物觅食的动态。 ***