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Secondary types of food in the diet of a small-sized mammalian herbivore: from species ecology to habitat inferences

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Abstract

A macroscopic analysis of stomach contents is undertaken in the common vole, Microtus arvalis, obscurus chromosomal form in order to assess the patterns of non-herbivorous foraging activity of a herbivore distributed in different Eurasian biomes. The samples are collected in the Ural Mountains at midsummer (8 localities, 60° 38′ N to 51° 07′ N), and in winter (one locality, 56° 37′ N). Based on the frequency of occurrence and quantitative abundance in stomachs, photoassimilating parts of vascular plants are considered as the primary food category and inflorescences, roots, seeds, mycorrhizal fungi, arthropods, chitin fragments, colorless amorphous matter, and mosses are recognized as the secondary food categories. Although no alternatives to the primary food are found, some of the supplements substitute one another either geographically (fungi in the north versus mature seeds in the south) or by the vertical layers of habitats (seeds and arthropods in the herbaceous layer versus roots and fungi in the shallow layers of soil). Non-staple food consumption in different latitudinal zones at midsummer reflects spatiotemporal dynamics of food availability. From taiga to steppes of the Urals, the common vole is sporadically included in soil foraging but the consumption of mycorrhizal fungi (Glomerales) is only revealed within the zones of dark coniferous forests. The results suggest that the extents of inclusion of a herbivore in soil food webs might vary among ecosystems. In a paleoecological perspective, the analysis of stomach contents in a herbivorous micromammal might reveal fine-scale details of the habitats and provides insights into the stages of the growing season.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Dr. I.L. Goldberg (the Danish Bryological Society, Denmark) for identification of moss leaves in locality H, and also Dr. E.V. Zinovyev and Dr. E.G. Lapteva (IPAE UrB RAS, Ekaterinburg, Russia) for their help in identifying arthropods, and fungal spores. We also thank Dr. N.V. Neustroeva and Dr. O.S. Shiryaeva (IPAE UrB RAS, Ekaterinburg, Russia) for making photos of fungal spores, and Dr. S.V. Zykov (IPAE UrB RAS, Ekaterinburg, Russia) for various help during the study. Special thanks to the administrations of the Orenburg State Nature Reserve and the Il’men State Reserve for their organizational assistance during trapping sessions in the Southern Urals. The study was performed in the framework of the State Contract with the Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, and partially supported by Russian Foundation for Basic Research, grant no. 19-04-00966 a. Reference collections used in the study are housed in the Museum of the Institute of Plant & Animal Ecology. Capture of animals was approved by the Department of Fauna Protection, Control and Regulation of Use in Sverdlovsk region, current permission series 66 no. 13-HO/19.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, the Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, 620144, Ekaterinburg, Russia

    E. A. Markova, S. S. Trofimova, P. A. Sibiryakov & L. E. Yalkovskaya

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  1. E. A. Markova
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  2. S. S. Trofimova
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  3. P. A. Sibiryakov
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  4. L. E. Yalkovskaya
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Correspondence to E. A. Markova.

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Communicated by: Karol Zub

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Markova, E.A., Trofimova, S.S., Sibiryakov, P.A. et al. Secondary types of food in the diet of a small-sized mammalian herbivore: from species ecology to habitat inferences. Mamm Res 65, 289–300 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-019-00472-z

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