Dietary composition and seasonal changes of the Tibetan fox (Vulpes ferrilata)

doi:10.16829/j.slxb.150794

Abstract

Abstract: The Tibetan fox (Vulpes ferrilata) is a crucial predator in the food chain in the stepper area of the Tibetan Plateau. Studies about its diet have important theoretical significance to understand its relationships with prey species, ecological adaptation strategies, and the transmission mechanism of parasitic zoonosis mediated by the food chain. In this study, 30 and 28 fecal samples of Tibetan foxes were collected from Shiqu County, Sichuan Province, during the warm season (July and August) and cold season (November) in 2019, respectively. Meta-barcode sequencing and microscopic observation were performed to analyze the dietary composition of the Tibetan fox and its seasonal differences. Results showed that the Tibetan fox mainly fed on pikas, rodents, birds, ungulates, fishes, and also insects and plants. Pikas represented by the plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) and the Phasianidae birds had the highest detection rates in the feces of the Tibetan fox, representing thus its main prey. Their detected rates in fecal samples did not change significantly between the cold and warm seasons. The Chi-square test showed that the frequency of Procypris (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) and insects in the fecal samples of Tibetan foxes in the warm season were significantly higher than that in the cold season. The α diversity and evenness of food composition in the feces of Tibetan foxes in the cold season were higher than that in the warm season, but there was no significant difference. Linear discriminant analysis effect size revealed that DNA reads of Procypris spp. in the fecal samples of the Tibetan fox in the warm season were significantly higher than that in the cold season. The principal coordinate analysis showed that food items and their sequence abundance in various fecal samples of warm season were more similar than those in samples of cold season. These results indicated that Tibetan foxes tend to prey on prevailing prey species in the warm season when food resources are more abundant, while in the the cold season, when prey resources are relatively scarcer, they increase the width of feeding niche to obtain more edible food items. This study provided fundamental information about the feeding ecology of the Tibetan fox, and its significance in the conservation and prevention of zoonotic diseases transmitted along the food chain was discussed.

Key words: Tibetan fox, Dietary analysis, Seasonal variation, Non-invasive sampling, Metabarcoding

摘要： 作为青藏高原地区食物链高端的捕食者，藏狐(Vulpes ferrilata)的食物组成研究不仅有助于了解该物种与当地潜在被捕食物种之间的种间关系，同时对于了解其生态适应策略及捕食食物链介导的野生动物疫源疫病的传播机制具有重要理论意义。本研究对2019年暖季(7—8月)和寒季(11月)分别在四川省甘孜州石渠县采集的30份和28份藏狐粪便样品，进行DNA宏条形码测序和显微观察，分析藏狐的食物组成及其季节差异。结果显示，藏狐主要取食包括啮齿类、鸟类、有蹄类、鱼类在内的多种脊椎动物以及昆虫和植物。以高原鼠兔(Ochotona curzoniae)为代表的鼠兔科动物和雉科鸟类是藏狐最主要的食物来源，在藏狐粪便中检出率最高，且在寒季和暖季之间没有显著差异。卡方检验显示鲤形目鲤科原鲤属鱼类(Procypris spp.)和昆虫在暖季藏狐粪便中出现频次显著高于寒季。寒季藏狐粪便中食物组成的α多样性和均匀度均高于暖季，但无显著差异。线性判别分析发现原鲤属鱼类在暖季藏狐粪便中的序列丰度显著高于寒季。主坐标分析显示暖季粪便内不同食物类型和序列丰度更加相似，而寒季粪便内不同食物类型和序列丰度具有更大差异。这些结果揭示：当暖季食物资源丰富度较高时，藏狐倾向于捕食丰富度较高的猎物物种，而当寒季各类猎物资源相对匮乏时，藏狐则通过增加取食生态位宽度以尽可能获取可以食用的食物来适应寒季更为严酷的生存环境。本研究在丰富藏狐食性资料的同时，为野生动物保护及沿食物链传播的人兽共患病的防治工作提供基础数据。

关键词: 藏狐, 食性分析, 季节性差异, 非损伤性取样, DNA宏条形码技术

CLC Number:

Q958. 12

ZHENG Jiaxin, ZUO Qingqiu, WANG Gang, WEI Xu, WENG Xiaodong, WANG Zhenghuan. Dietary composition and seasonal changes of the Tibetan fox (Vulpes ferrilata)[J]. ACTA THERIOLOGICA SINICA, 2023, 43(4): 398-411.

郑佳鑫, 左清秋, 王刚, 韦旭, 翁晓东, 王正寰. 藏狐的食物组成及其季节差异[J]. 兽类学报, 2023, 43(4): 398-411.

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