Spatial patterns in heterogeneity are generally deemed a central causal factor influencing the physiology and behavior of animals in ecological systems. However, knowledge remains limited about how such patterns influence food discovery by animals. We inferred that spatial heterogeneity plays a key role in animal food discovery and location. To prove this inference, we tested food locating parameters by 2 rodent species, Apodemus agrarius and Lasiopodomys brandtii, in different heterogeneous environments. Our results showed that spatial heterogeneity significantly influenced the food locating time of rodents, with food locating time increasing with increasing spatial heterogeneity. Furthermore, spatial heterogeneity significantly influenced invalid excavations (digging in the wrong place). Finally, spatial heterogeneity significantly influenced the frequency that heterogeneous objects were explored. Supporting our inference, our results indicate that spatial heterogeneity significantly influences the foraging behavior of animals. Consequently, increased spatial heterogeneity will impair the food locating success of rodents. We believe that this work will broaden our understanding of plant–animal interactions.

中文翻译：

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复杂的空间格局会延迟啮齿动物对食物的发现和定位。

异质性的空间格局通常被认为是影响生态系统中动物生理和行为的主要因果因素。但是，关于这种模式如何影响动物发现食物的知识仍然有限。我们推断空间异质性在动物食物的发现和定位中起着关键作用。为了证明这一推论，我们测试了两种啮齿动物种类的食物定位参数，即姬鼠Apodemus agrarius和Lasiopodomys brandtii，在不同的异构环境中。我们的结果表明，空间异质性显着影响啮齿动物的食物定位时间，食物定位时间随着空间异质性的增加而增加。此外，空间异质性极大地影响了无效挖掘（在错误的位置挖掘）。最后，空间异质性显着影响了探索异质对象的频率。支持我们的推论，我们的结果表明空间异质性显着影响动物的觅食行为。因此，增加的空间异质性将损害啮齿动物的食物定位成功。我们相信这项工作将拓宽我们对植物与动物相互作用的理解。