在宁夏六盘山区的辽东栎灌丛,以不同大小的辽东栎种子、野李和华山松种子为材料,研究了种子大小和种皮特征对啮齿动物取食和搬运行为的影响.结果表明:辽东栎小种子和华山松种子的就地取食率均显著高于辽东栎大种子和野李种子;具有厚而坚硬种皮(内果皮)的野李种子被啮齿动物搬运后的取食率和贮藏率均最高.辽东栎大种子被啮齿动物搬运后取食的距离最大(3.10m),被搬运后贮藏的距离(6.48m)显著大于其他类型种子.除野李种子外,其他3种类型种子的单个种子取食点都在80%以上,所有种子的单个种子贮藏点都在90%以上,含2个以上种子的取食点和贮藏点较少.较高比例的华山松种子在灌丛基部和洞穴以外的其他环境被取食,其他3种类型种子被啮齿动物搬运后主要集中在灌丛基部和洞穴中取食;种皮(内果皮)厚而坚硬的种子以土壤埋藏方式贮藏的比例偏高.
A field survey was conducted in the Quercus wutaishanica shrubs in Liupan Mountains of Ningxia, Northwest China to study the predation and removal of rodents on the seeds of Q. wutai-shanica, Prunus salicina and Pinus armandii, aimed to explore the effects of seed size and pericarp traits on the predation and removal behaviors of rodents. The in situ seed predation rates of smaller Q. wutaishanica seeds and P. armandii seeds were significantly higher than those of larger Q. wutaishanica seeds and P. salicina seeds. The P. salicina seeds with hard and thick pericarp (endocarp) had the highest predation rate and hoarding rate after the removal by rodents. The movement distance of larger Q. wutaishanica seeds during predation events was the longest (3.10 m), and the seed hoarding distance of this species (6.48 m) was significantly longer than that of the three other types of seeds. Over 80% of sites were used as the predation sites by rodents for the seeds, except that the P. salicina seeds contained only a single seed and the cache sites contained a single seed accounted for over 90% for all types of seeds. Few predation and cache sites containing over two seeds were detected. Higher proportion of P. armandii seeds were predated in micro-habitats except at the base of shrubs and in the holes after removal by rodent, while the seeds of other three types were predated mainly at the base of shrubs and in the holes after removal by rodents. The seed hoarding patterns after removal by rodents were primarily determined by pericarp traits, and higher proportion of soil burial that the rodents hoarded seeds with hard pericarp (endocarp) was detected.