Group size effects on foraging and vigilance in migratory Tibetan antelope

NWIPB OpenIR

	Group size effects on foraging and vigilance in migratory Tibetan antelope
	Lian, Xinming ; Zhang, Tongzuo ; Cao, Yifan ; Su, Jianping ; Thirgood, Simon
	2007-11-01
发表期刊	BEHAVIOURAL PROCESSES ; Lian Xinming, Zhang Tongzuo,Cao Yifan,Su Jianping,Thirgood Simon. Group size effects on foraging and vigilance in migratory Tibetan antelope.BEHAVIOURAL PROCESSES,2007,76(3):192-197
摘要	Large group sizes have been hypothesized to decrease predation risk and increase food competition. We investigated group size effects on vigilance and foraging behaviour during the migratory period in female Tibetan antelope Pantholops hodgsoni, in the Kekexili Nature Reserve of Qinghai Province, China. During June to August, adult female antelope and yearling females gather in large migratory groups and cross the Qinghai-Tibet highway to calving grounds within the Nature Reserve and return to Qumalai county after calving. Large groups of antelope aggregate in the migratory corridor where they compete for limited food resources and attract the attention of mammalian and avian predators and scavengers. We restricted our sampling to groups of less than 30 antelopes and thus limit our inference accordingly. Focal-animal sampling was used to record the behaviour of the free-ranging antelope except for those with lambs. Tibetan antelope spent more time foraging in larger groups but frequency of foraging bouts was not affected by group size. Conversely, the time spent vigilant and frequency of vigilance bouts decreased with increased group size. We suggest that these results are best explained by competition for food and risk of predation. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.; Large group sizes have been hypothesized to decrease predation risk and increase food competition. We investigated group size effects on vigilance and foraging behaviour during the migratory period in female Tibetan antelope Pantholops hodgsoni, in the Kekexili Nature Reserve of Qinghai Province, China. During June to August, adult female antelope and yearling females gather in large migratory groups and cross the Qinghai-Tibet highway to calving grounds within the Nature Reserve and return to Qumalai county after calving. Large groups of antelope aggregate in the migratory corridor where they compete for limited food resources and attract the attention of mammalian and avian predators and scavengers. We restricted our sampling to groups of less than 30 antelopes and thus limit our inference accordingly. Focal-animal sampling was used to record the behaviour of the free-ranging antelope except for those with lambs. Tibetan antelope spent more time foraging in larger groups but frequency of foraging bouts was not affected by group size. Conversely, the time spent vigilant and frequency of vigilance bouts decreased with increased group size. We suggest that these results are best explained by competition for food and risk of predation. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://210.75.249.4/handle/363003/20180
专题	中国科学院西北高原生物研究所
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Lian, Xinming,Zhang, Tongzuo,Cao, Yifan,et al. Group size effects on foraging and vigilance in migratory Tibetan antelope[J]. BEHAVIOURAL PROCESSES, Lian Xinming, Zhang Tongzuo,Cao Yifan,Su Jianping,Thirgood Simon. Group size effects on foraging and vigilance in migratory Tibetan antelope.BEHAVIOURAL PROCESSES,2007,76(3):192-197,2007.
APA	Lian, Xinming,Zhang, Tongzuo,Cao, Yifan,Su, Jianping,&Thirgood, Simon.(2007).Group size effects on foraging and vigilance in migratory Tibetan antelope.BEHAVIOURAL PROCESSES.
MLA	Lian, Xinming,et al."Group size effects on foraging and vigilance in migratory Tibetan antelope".BEHAVIOURAL PROCESSES (2007).