Journal ArticleDOI
Burrow structure and foraging costs in the fossorial rodent, Thomomys bottae
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A model for calculating the energy cost of burrowing by fossorial rodents is presented and used to examine the energetics of foraging by burrows and finds that minimizing energy expended per meter of tunnel constructed maximizes efficiency of foraged by burrowing in the desert scrub.Abstract:
A model for calculating the energy cost of burrowing by fossorial rodents is presented and used to examine the energetics of foraging by burrowing. The pocket gopher Thomomys bottae (Rodentia: Geomyidae) digs burrows for access to food. Feeding tunnels of Thomomys are broken into segments by laterals to the surface that are used to dispose of excavated soil. Energy cost of burrowing depends on both soil type and on burrow structure, defined by the length of burrow segments, angle of ascent of laterals, depth of feeding tunnels, and burrow diameter. In a desert scrub habitat, Thomomys adjust burrow segment length to minimize cost of burrowing. Observed segment lengths (mean=1.33 m) closely approximate the minimum-cost segment length of 1.22 m. Minimizing energy expended per meter of tunnel constructed maximizes efficiency of foraging by burrowing in the desert scrub. Burrow diameter and cost of burrowing increase with body size, while benefits do not, so foraging by burrowing becomes less enconomical as body size increases. Maximum possible body size of fossorial mammals depends on habitat productivity and energy cost of burrowing in local soils.read more
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Citation classic - optimal foraging - a selective review of theory and tests
TL;DR: A review of the literature on optimal foraging can be found in this article, with a focus on the theoretical developments and the data that permit tests of the predictions, and the authors conclude that the simple models so far formulated are supported by available data and that they are optimistic about the value both now and in the future.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Effects of Bioturbation on Soil Processes and Sediment Transport
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on studies that allow them to place bioturbation within a quantitative framework that links the form of hillslopes with the processes of sediment transport and soil production.
Journal ArticleDOI
Is the naked mole-rat Hererocephalus glaber an endothermic yet poikilothermic mammal?
TL;DR: The high rates of heat transfer are such that individual naked mole-rats cannot regulate Tb over the entire range of measured Tas and, as such, are poikilothermic mammals.
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The Cost of Burrowing by the Social Mole Rats (Bathyergidae) Cryptomys damarensis and Heterocephalus glaber: The Role of Soil Moisture
TL;DR: Arguments are presented that suggest that the cost of burrowing may be an important factor selecting for body size, differentiation of labor, and polyethism in the bathyergids.
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Long-term data reveal complex dynamics in grassland in relation to climate and disturbance
TL;DR: The results provide support for the "insurance" hypothesis, which suggests that biodiversity buffers ecosystem processes against environmental changes because different species (or phenotypes) respond differently to these changes, leading to functional compensations among species.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
On Optimal Use of a Patchy Environment
TL;DR: A graphical method is discussed which allows a specification of the optimal diet of a predator in terms of the net amount of energy gained from a capture of prey as compared to the energy expended in searching for the prey.
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Theory of Feeding Strategies
TL;DR: Throughout, emphasis will be placed on strategic aspects of feeding rather than on what Holling (75) has called "tactics," and possible answers to the first problem may be given to the second problem.
Journal ArticleDOI
Optimal foraging: A selective review of theory and tests
TL;DR: The general conclusion is that the simple models so far formulated are supported are supported reasonably well by available data and that the author is optimistic about the value both now and in the future of optimal foraging theory.
Citation classic - optimal foraging - a selective review of theory and tests
TL;DR: A review of the literature on optimal foraging can be found in this article, with a focus on the theoretical developments and the data that permit tests of the predictions, and the authors conclude that the simple models so far formulated are supported by available data and that they are optimistic about the value both now and in the future.