Food habits of the great gerbil (Rhombomys opimus) in the southern Gurbantunggut desert, Xinjiang, China

We studied the diet of the great gerbil (Rhombomys opimus) on the southern edge of the Gurbantonggut desert, Xinjiang, China, for one year (2009 -2010) using fecal microscopic analysis. Our results demonstrated that this rodent consumed a long list of plant species, including 25 species belonging to 13 families. In spring, the major foods of the great gerbil were Cares physodes (45.21%) and Erodium oxyrrhynchum (15.25%). During summer, their ration consisted of Corispermum sp (28.16%), Seriphidium santolinum (17.98%), Artemisia desertorum (12.32%), Ephedra przewalskii (11.91%), and Horaninowia ulicina (10.29%). We found that Haloxylon ammodendron dominated their diet in autumn (81.53%) and winter (79.95%), but was eaten rarely during spring and summer. Analysis of the great gerbil's diet indicates a similarity rate as high as 0.99 between autumn and winter, whereas in other seasons, this index fluctuated between 0.23-0.28. Our investigations revealed that the great gerbils most often ate the dominant plant species near their burrows, and their diet varied according to the changes of these species and coincided with the variations in the plants phenology as well.