Vigilance Patterns of Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) in Urban and Rural Areas

IF 0.6 4区环境科学与生态学 Q4 Agricultural and Biological Sciences

American Midland Naturalist Pub Date : 2021-04-28 DOI:10.1674/0003-0031-185.2.267

Justin L. Pitschmann, J. Conard, Elaina M. Hubbell

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引用次数: 1

Abstract

Abstract. We analyzed the relationship between landscape context and the vigilance and foraging patterns of the black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) in urban and rural areas. We observed five colonies, two in urban areas and three in rural areas from 23 March–20 April 2016, 31 August–19 September 2016, 26 March–12 April 2017, and 7 September–17 October 2017. We measured vigilance by observing individual prairie dogs for 5 min and recording the amount of time the individual spent vigilant or foraging. In addition, the total number of individuals in the colony that were actively vigilant or foraging were counted every 10 min for 1 h. Prairie dogs in rural colonies were more vigilant than those in urban colonies and displayed a lower proportion of individuals that were non-vigilant in both the spring and summer. Because prairie dogs in urban colonies might be habituated to disturbance and have a relatively low risk of predation, individuals spent much less time vigilant. Our findings could be used to better understand behavioral changes in black-tailed prairie dogs caused by encroaching urban development.

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黑尾草原犬（Cynomys ludovicianus）在城乡的警戒模式

摘要我们分析了景观背景与黑尾草原犬（Cynomys ludovicianus）在城市和农村地区的警惕性和觅食模式之间的关系。我们在2016年3月23日至4月20日、2016年8月31日至9月19日、2017年3月26日至4日12日和2017年9月7日至10月17日期间观察到五个殖民地，其中两个在城市地区，三个在农村地区。我们通过观察草原犬个体5分钟并记录个体保持警惕或觅食的时间来测量警惕性。此外，每10分钟统计一次群落中积极警惕或觅食的个体总数，持续1小时。农村群落的草原犬比城市群落的草原狗更警惕，在春季和夏季不警惕的个体比例较低。由于城市群落中的草原犬可能习惯于干扰，被捕食的风险相对较低，因此个体保持警惕的时间要少得多。我们的发现可以用来更好地了解黑尾草原犬因侵占城市发展而引起的行为变化。

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来源期刊

American Midland Naturalist 环境科学-生态学

CiteScore

1.20

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

18-36 weeks

期刊介绍： The American Midland Naturalist has been published for 90 years by the University of Notre Dame. The connotations of Midland and Naturalist have broadened and its geographic coverage now includes North America with occasional articles from other continents. The old image of naturalist has changed and the journal publishes what Charles Elton aptly termed "scientific natural history" including field and experimental biology. Its significance and breadth of coverage are evident in that the American Midland Naturalist is among the most frequently cited journals in publications on ecology, mammalogy, herpetology, ornithology, ichthyology, parasitology, aquatic and invertebrate biology and other biological disciplines.