Effects of age, sex and season on the maximum movement distance ofNiviventer confucianusin Thousand Island Lake

Autor: 沈良良 Shen Liangliang, 鲍毅新 Bao Yixin, 张旭 Zhang Xu, 叶彬 Ye Bin
Rok vydání: 2013
Předmět:
Zdroj: Acta Ecologica Sinica. 33:3311-3317
ISSN: 1000-0933
DOI: 10.5846/stxb201203290439
Popis: Chinese white-bellied rats,Niviventer confucianus,were mark-recaptured from July to November,2009 and from March to November,2010 on two islands of the Thousand Island Lake region.The maximum movement distances of Chinese white-bellied rats that were recaptured 4 or more times were calculated in spring,summer and autumn by Biotas 2.0.Then we used independent sample T test,one-way ANOVA or Mann-Whitney U test to analyze the effects of age,sex and season on the maximum movement distance.We aim to explore movement and home range of Chinese white-bellied rats in isolated island environment,and to predict its behavioral responses to isolated island environment.The results showed that there was no significant difference in the maximum movement distance between two islands,and the data of the two islands could be pooled.There were highly significant differences in the maximum movement distance among four different age groups.The maximum movement distance of males was significantly longer than females in adults,but did not differ between the sexes in any other age groups.The maximum movement distance differed significantly among spring,summer and autumn in sub-adults,but not in other age groups.The maximum movement distance of both males and females was longest in autumn and shortest in spring.Our results indicate that the maximum movement distance is positively correlated with the age of Chinese white-bellied rats,and is significantly longer in males than females.Our results were inconsistent with some of the previous studies on home range size in rats.This inconsistency likely reflects the restriction of resources in isolated island environment and specificity of behavior in Chinese white-bellied rats.This study preliminarily displays the effects of island isolation on small mammals,and more studies are needed to examine the island effects in the future.
Databáze: OpenAIRE