关键词: 高原鼠兔, 领域, 时间分配, 捕食风险, 适应

Abstract: Time allocation of activities on the surface and in burrows, and the fiequencies of entering and emerging from burrows were compared by age and gender in plateau pikas(Ochotona curzoniae) using directly observations in the field. The results showed thatfrom 07: 00一18: 00 males spent 87.09% and females spent 85.22% of total time on the surface. Although there were no significant gender differences in time spent on the surface, significant seasonal variations were found. In the early breeding season, adult females spent more time on the surface than they did during the later breeding season.The juveniles of the sewed litter spent much less time on the surface than did those of the first litters. The frequencies of burrow entering differed significantly depending on age and gender in the pikas. The highest burrow entering frequency was found in May for female adults, whereas,the lowest in April for male adults. Our results provide evidence to support the hypothesis that predation risk can restrain the territorial activity and time allocation and that living in a high risk environment will facilitate utilization of burrows small mammals.

Key words: Adaptation, Plateau pika(Ochotona curzoniae), Predation risk, Territory, Time allocation