Small-Mammal Foraging Behavior: Mechanisms for Coexistence and Implication for Population Dynamics

We investigated predation risk and competition as they affected small-mammal foraging behavior in semiarid north-central Chile. Giving-up densities (GUD) of seeds were used to measure the foraging activity of the three most common small mammals at the site: degu (Octodon degus), Darwin's leaf-eared mouse (Phyllotis darwini), and the olivaceous field mouse (Akodon olivaceus), under shrubs (cover) and in the open on predator-excluded and competitor-excluded (Octodon) plots. Experiments were conducted during both new and full moons. Monthly small-mammal censuses using standard mark-recapture techniques provided data on movement, reproduction, and long-term fluctuations in density between 1989 and 1994. Diurnal Octodon foraged more (had lower GUD) in the absence of predators (although this was confounded by a numerical increase resulting from predator exclusion), and foraged more under shrubs than in the open. However, the lack of a significant cover x predator exclusion interaction and thermoregulation studies suggest that physiological constraints play a greater role than predation risk in determining micro-habitat selection by Octodon. Predation risk, as influenced by lunar light levels and predator exclusion, had only weak effects on microhabitat selection by Phyllotis. The strong tendency of Octodon to forage under cover could depress food availability, forcing Phyllotis to feed more in the open. Concomitantly, Phyllotis exhibits several morphological characters that would favor detection and avoidance of predators. There is extensive evidence that interspecific competition is the primary constraint on Akodon foraging; predation risk appears to be relatively unimportant. Akodon is also a less efficient forager than the two other species, having significantly higher GUD, on average. This is partially offset by differences in reproductive biology; Akodon exhibits extremely rapid demographic responses to favorable changes in the environment. A fourth species, Abrothrix longipilis, may coexist in the system because of its opportunistic nature, but no data are available on its foraging efficiency. These behavioral and biotic interactions occur within a background of periodic El Niño-Southern Oscillations (ENSO), which may ultimately contribute to species co-existence.