Body size and foraging patterns in three species of alpine grazers
Tyser RW. 1978. Body size and foraging patterns in three species of alpine grazers. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America. 59(2):80
Three species of mammal grazers, the pika (Ochotona princeps), the Columbian ground squirrel (Spermophilus columbianus), and the hoary marmot (Marmota caligata) frequently cohabit talus slopes in Glacier National Park, Montana. Approximate adult weights for these animals are 130 g (pika), 580 g (ground squirrel), and 6,400 g (marmot). Interspecific comparisons of their foraging behaviors indicated that feeding patch size increased with body size and that body rotation rates in feeding patches (measured in terms of changes in body orientation per meter) decreased with body size. Additional comparisons between ground squirrels and marmots showed that distances between feeding patches were shorter for ground squirrels and that ground squirrels selected feeding sites that were more recently exposed by receding snowpack. These results are interpreted in terms of feeding efficiencies and metabolic costs and are compared to other studies on foraging patterns and body size.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Tyser, Robin
- Units
- GLAC
- Keywords
- Alpine Zone, American pika (Ochotona princeps), Animal Studies, Columbian ground squirrel (Spermophilus columbianus), Foraging, hoary marmot (Marmota caligata), Size