PARENT SESSION
Wednesday, August 9, 5:00-6:30 pm
Poster Session 17 - Community ecology: structure, composition, and dynamics
Exhibit Hall, Ballroom Level, Cook Convention Center
Resource partitioning and sociality of Peromyscus leucopus and Ochrotomys nuttalli.
Gibbes, Laura*,1, Rodas, Luis*,1, Crawford, Daniel*,1, Barrett, Gary1, 1 University of Georgia, Athens, GA
ABSTRACT- Peromyscus leucopus (white-footed mice) and Ochrotomys nuttalli (golden mice), two small mammal species of similar life histories and body mass, exhibit a high degree of sociality and niche overlap. For example, both species have been captured simultaneously in the same live trap and exhibit similar nesting behavior. It appears slight differences in three-dimensional use of habitat space (Christopher and Barrett, 2006) and patterns of movement (Pruett et. al., 2002) partially explain differences in the high degree of niche overlap of these two species. We investigated differences in food selection (e.g., food energy and quality) to quantify this coexistence. We hypothesize that differences in food partitioning would help explain how they coexist in a riparian forest habitat. Five abundant food resources were provided in cafeteria style (Knuth and Barrett, 1984) to 10 individuals (5 males, 5 females) of each species. Each individual was provided with this smorgasbord for 10 days and contained in separate tanks (81 cm diameter and depth). Each tank consisted of five dishes spaced 72° from a central nesting box. Dietary choices included Quercus nigra (water oak), Quercus alba (white oak), Ligustrum sinese (chinese privet), Cornus florida (flowering dogwood), and Rhus typhina (staghorn sumac). The ranking food choice for male P. leucopus was flowering dogwood, water oak, white oak, chinese privet, and staghorn sumac. The ranking food choice for female P. leucopus was water oak, white oak, flowering dogwood, chinese privet, and staghorn sumac. The same research design will be provided to O. nuttalli to quantify differences in food selection.
Key words: resource partitioning, niche differentiation, sociality