ACTA THERIOLOGICA SINICA ›› 2018, Vol. 38 ›› Issue (2): 139-147.DOI: 10.16829/j.slxb.150098

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#br# The time budgets of male Capra sibirica of different ages in rutting season

HAN Lei, WANG Muyang, YANG Weikang, ZHU Xinsheng   

  1. Key Laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresources in Arid Land, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Online:2018-03-30 Published:2018-06-19

不同年龄雄性北山羊发情期时间分配特征

韩雷 汪沐阳 杨维康 朱新胜   

  1. 中国科学院新疆生态与地理研究所,中国科学院干旱区生物地理与生物资源重点实验室
  • 通讯作者: 杨维康 E-mail: yangwk@ms.xjb.ac.cn
  • 基金资助:
    国家自然科学基金项目(U1303301, 31661143019, 41661144001);中国科学院特色研究所主要服务项目4课题1(TSS-2015-014-FW-4-1)资助

Abstract:

Research has shown that multiple reproductive-age ruminant males reduce their forage intake substantially during the rut. Two hypotheses have been proposed to explain this rut-induced hypophagia phenomenon: the foraging-constraint hypothesis and energy-saving hypothesis. We compared the time budgets of different age-classes of male Siberian ibex Capra sibirica among different rutting stages to make clear what tactic was used by Siberian ibex. Focal animal sampling was used to collect behavior data from October to December in 2014, in the middle of Tianshan Mountains. We used Kruskal-Wallis tests and Spearman rank correlation tests to analyze behavior data. Our results show that the feeding time of both adult males and sub-adult males during the rut were substantially lower than that during the pre- and post-rut. However, the time spent lying was similar among different stages of the rut for both the adult and sub-adult males. The ratio of feeding time to lying time in the rut was also significantly decreased compared with pre-rut, and there is no differences were found with post-rut. The duration of rutting-related behaviors during the rut were considerably higher than the during pre- and post-rut, most of non-rut time was allocated to foraging for all males. The feeding time of females during the rut was lower than pre- and post-rut, the lying time during rut and post-rut were observably higher than during pre-rut. Our results show that the Siberian ibex males of different age-classes decrease their feeding time during rut. This rut-induced hypophagia could be mostly explained by the foraging-constraint hypothesis; while the energy-saving hypothesis could also contribute to the reduction of feeding time for Siberian ibex males in this season.

Key words: Capra sibirica, Age-classes, Rutting, Time budgets

摘要:

前人研究表明,可多次繁殖的反刍物种其雄性个体在发情期采食时间显著减少。目前有两个假说解释这一现象,即能量摄入最大化假说和能量保存假说。为验证雄性北山羊在不同发情阶段所采取的能量保存策略,作者于2014年10-12月在新疆天山中部采用焦点动物取样法采集数据,采用Kruskal-Wallis检验和Spearman秩相关性检验分析数据。研究发现雄性北山羊成体和亚成体发情期采食时间均显著低于发情前期和发情后期,但二者在不同发情阶段卧息时间无显著变化,发情期采食和卧息时间比亦显著降低。发情期发情行为时间显著高于发情前期和发情后期,非发情时间主要用于采食。发情期采食时间和卧息时间都与发情行为时间呈显著的负相关关系。雌性北山羊发情期采食时间亦显著低于发情前期和发情后期,发情期和发情后期卧息时间显著高于发情前期。本研究结果表明,发情期不同年龄阶段雄羊都主要采取能量摄入最大化策略,但同时也具有部分能量保存策略的特征。

关键词: 北山羊, 发情期, 不同年龄阶段, 时间分配