ORIGINAL PAPERS

Seed-hoarding preferences of rodents for cork oak(Quercus variabilis) and Henry's chestnut(Castanea henryi): testing the high-tannin hypothesis

  • LI Yuan ,
  • SHEN Youbi ,
  • WANG Minghui ,
  • YI Xianfeng ,
  • WANG Zhenyu
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  • 1 College of Life Sciences, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China;
    2 College of Life Sciences, Qufu Normal University, Qufu 273165, China

Received date: 2020-02-12

  Online published: 2021-05-27

Abstract

Tannin in seeds particularly affects the feeding and hoarding strategies of rodents. The high tannin hypothesis suggests that rodents prefer to eat more low-tannin food but hoard more high-tannin food for later consumption. However, the question of whether the hoarding and eating preferences of sympatric rodent species follow the high tannin hypothesis still remains poorly understood. In order to further test the high-tannin hypothesis, we investigated the feeding and hoarding preferences of sympatric rodent species (Leopoldamys edwardsi, Niveventer fulvescens, N. confucianus, Apodemus chevrieri, A. draco) on cork oak, Quercus variabilis and Henry's chestnut, Castanea henryi under enclosure condition in the Banruosi Experimental Forest in Dujiangyan City of Sichuan Province, Southwest China. Seeds of cork oak and Henry's chestnut show similar traits but varying tannin levels (11.7% versus 0.6%). The result showed that(1) the five sympatric rodents preferred to eat acorns of C. henryi rather than those of Q. variabili;2) larder hoarding N. fulvescens and N. confucianus preferred to larder-hoard C. henryi nuts;whereas scatter hoarding L. edwardsi and A. chevrieri tended to hoard C. henryi nuts;3) scatter hoarding A. draco which larder-hoard and scatter-hoard food preferred to scatter-hoard Q. variabili nuts and larder-hoard C. henryi nuts. These results failed to support the high-tanning hypothesis, indicating that seed-hoarding and eating preferences of sympatric rodents for seeds show interspecific differentiation, and do not necessarily follow the high tannin hypothesis.

Cite this article

LI Yuan , SHEN Youbi , WANG Minghui , YI Xianfeng , WANG Zhenyu . Seed-hoarding preferences of rodents for cork oak(Quercus variabilis) and Henry's chestnut(Castanea henryi): testing the high-tannin hypothesis[J]. ACTA THERIOLOGICA SINICA, 2021 , 41(3) : 338 -343 . DOI: 10.16829/j.slxb.150363

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