Diet Selection by the Fossorial Rodent Ctenomys mendocinus Inhabiting an Environment with Low Food Availability (Mendoza, Argentina)

MARIA ROSI; MÓNICA I. CONA; FERNANDO VIDELA; SILVIA PUIG

STUDIES ON NEOTROPICAL FAUNA AND ENVIRONMENT

TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2003

0165-0521

The seasonal diet of Ctenomys mendocinus was determinedin a habitat of the Andean Precordillera, through microhis-tological analyses of stomach contents and in relation to foodavailability. Diet included 23 genera of plants and only 6 ofthem were consumed with frequencies higher than 4%. Thegrasses Stipa and Elymus comprised about 80% of the diet.A high proportion of aerial plant material was registeredthroughout the year suggesting a tendency to forage on thesurface. Dietary selectivity was evidenced by a preferentialconsumption of grasses and avoidance of shrubs. Moreover,most dietary items frequently used were eaten in proportionsthat differed from their availabilities. This non-opportunisticfeeding behavior, specialized in a few dietary items, did notagree with the one expected for a subterranean rodent inhab-iting an environment with severe climatic conditions, lowfood availability and patchy distribution of food resources.