Title
Diet of a Sigmodontine Rodent Assemblage in a Peruvian Montane Forest
Date Issued
2015
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos
Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos
Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos
Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos
Publisher(s)
Allen Press Inc.
Abstract
Knowledge of feeding habits of small rodents is necessary for understanding food webs, trophic structure, and plant-animal interactions in Neotropical forests. Despite several studies that have investigated community structure and feeding behavior of rodents, large gaps remain in our understanding of their guild occupancy. Our objective was to investigate the diets of 7 species of small (< 100 g) sympatric sigmodontine rodents in a high (3,500 m) Andean montane rainforest in Peru. We qualitatively and quantitatively assessed diet items in fecal samples from livetrapped rodents from 2009 to 2012. Frequency data for 4 diet categories indicated that all 7 species of rodents contained 4 diet categories in fecal samples: arthropods (88%), remains of leaves and fibers from plants (61%), intact seeds (with or without fruit pulp; 50%), and mycorrhizal spores (45%). Omnivory was found to be a strategy used by all species, although contingency table analysis revealed significant differences among and within species in diet categories. Cluster analysis showed 2 main groupings: that of the Thomasomys spp. plus Calomys sorellus group which included high amounts of intact seeds and plant parts in their fecal samples, and those of the genera Akodon, Microryzomys, Oligoryzomys, which included a greater proportion of arthropods in their fecal samples, but still consumed substantial amounts of fruit and plant parts. Intact seed remains from at least 17 plant species (9 families) were found in fecal samples. We concluded that this assemblage of sigmodontine rodents is omnivorous but that they likely play an important role as frugivores and in seed dispersal in tropical montane forests in Peru.
Start page
1071
End page
1080
Volume
96
Issue
5
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Forestal Zoología, Ornitología, Entomología, ciencias biológicas del comportamiento
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-84943602201
Source
Journal of Mammalogy
ISSN of the container
00222372
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus