Foraging Ecology and Population Dynamics of Collared Pikas in Southwestern Yukon

• Main Author: Shawn F. Morrison
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Yukon; Arctic
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.458.3043; http://arctic.synergiesprairies.ca/arctic/index.php/arctic/article/download/377/410/

THE FORAGING DECISIONS MADE BY HERBIVORES influ-ence population dynamics through their effects onenergy gain, energy expenditure, and ultimately, survival (McNamara and Houston, 1997). In turn, foraging by herbivores may influence the amount of vegetation available for the future. Therefore, herbivores and vegeta-tion often are coupled in a strong reciprocal relationship: the abundance of one affects the abundance of the other through time (e.g., Caughley, 1976). This interaction is particularly important for herbivores living in seasonal environments where food abundance and quality vary dramatically between growing and winter seasons. Herbivores must adapt their foraging behaviour to contend with these changes and survive until the follow-ing growing season (Owen-Smith, 2002). In addition to seasonal effects, daily foraging decisions are constrained by a number of other factors, which may be classified as