Rodents in Desert Environments PDF
Preview Rodents in Desert Environments
RODENTS IN DESERT ENVIRONMENTS MONOGRAPHIAE BIOLOGICAE Editor J.ILLIES Schlitz VOLUME 28 DR. W. JUNK h.v. PUBLISHERS THE HAGUE 1975 RODENTS IN DESERT ENVIRONMENTS Edited by I. PRAKASH & P. K. GHOSH DR. W. JUNK h.v. PUBLISHERS THE HAGUE 1975 ISBN-13: 978-94-010-1946-0 e-ISBN-13: 978-94-010-1944-6 DOl: 10.1007/978-94-010-1944-6 © 1975 by Dr. W. Junk b.v., Publishers, The Hague Cover Design M. Velthuijs, The Hague Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover 1st edition 1975 Zuid-Nederlandsche Drukkerij N.V., 's-Hertogenbosch CONTENTS Chapters' Contents VII Preface ..... . XIII Authors' Addresses XVI I. The Desert as a Habitat 1 II. The Ecology of Rodents in the northern Sudan 15 III. The Rodents of the Iranian Deserts . . . . . 47 IV. Comparative Ecological Notes on Afghan Rodents. 59 V. The Population Ecology of the Rodents of the Rajasthan Desert, India. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 VI. Outbreaks of Rodents in Semi-Arid and Arid Australia: Causes, Preventions and Evolutionary Considerations. . 117 VII. Observations of Argentine Desert Rodent Ecology, with Emphasis on Water Relations of Eligmodontia typus. . . . 155 VIII. La diversite des Gerbillides. . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 IX. Some Observations on Ecological Adaptations of Desert Rodents and Suggestions for further Research work. 185 X. The Behavior Patterns of Desert Rodents 189 XI. Activity Patterns of a Desert Rodent. 225 XII. Patterns of Food, Space and Diversity . 241 XIII. Desert Coloration in Rodents . . . . . 269 XIV. The Biology of some Desert-Dwelling Ground Squirrels. 277 XV. Reproductive Biology of North American Desert Rodents 305 XVI. Rodent Faunas and Environmental Changes in the Pleistocene of Israel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331 XVII. Prehistoric Rodents of the Middle East. . . . . . . . 363 XVIII. Desert Rodents: Physiological Problems of Desert Life. . 379 XIX. Ecophysiology of Water and Energy in Desert Marsupials and Rodents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389 XX. Thermo-Regulation and Water Economy in Indian Desert Rodents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397 XXI. The Physiological Adaptations of Desert Rodents. . . . 413 XXII. Nematode Parasites of the Indian Desert Rodents. . . . 445 XXIII. Ecology of Desert Rodents of the U.S.S.R. (Jerboas and Gerbils) . . . . . . .. 465 Author Index. . . . . . 599 Genus and Species Index. 607 Subject Index . . . . . 617 CHAPTERS' CONTENTS I. The Desert as a Habitat by]. L. CLOUDSLEy-THOMP- SON 1 Introduction 1 Distri bu tion 1 Soils. 3 Climate 5 Vegetation 11 References 12 II. The Ecology of Rodents in the northern Sudan by D. C. D. HAPPOLD 15 Introduction 15 Desert Species. 22 ] ebel Species 30 Riverine Species. 31 Commensal Species 31 Reproduction. 31 Other Adaptations for Life in the Desert 35 Discussion 39 Acknowledgements 44 References 44 III. The Rodents of the Iranian Deserts by X. MISONNE 47 Introduction 47 The Rodents: northern and southern Types. 49 Annual Rhythm 52 Population Densities . 54 Some Peculiarities. 56 References 58 IV. Com.parative Ecological Notes on Afghan Rodents by]. GAISLER 59 Introduction 59 Results. 60 Discussion 69 Summary 72 References 73 V. The Population Ecology of the Rodents of the Rajasthan Desert, India by ISHWAR PRAKASH 75 Introduction . . . . 75 . Population Structure. 81 Ranges of Movements 95 Food . . . . . . . 96 Predator-Prey Relationship. 101 Breeding Season and Litter Size . 103 References . . . . . . . 114 VI. Outbreaks of Rodents in Setni-Arid and Arid Australia: Causes, Preventions, and Evolutionary Con- siderations by A. E. NEWSOME & L. K. CORBETT 117 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 Climates in Central Australia. . . . . 119 The Study-Area: Habitats and Rodents. 123 Populations. . . . . . . . 130 Conclusions and Discussion . 143 Acknowledgements 151 References . . . . . . . . 151 VII. Observations of Argentine Desert Rodent Ecology, with Etnphasis on Water Relations of Eligmodontia typus by M. A. MARES. . . . . . . . . . . 155 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 The Argentine Monte and some of its Rodents. 156 Methods and Materials. 164 Results and Discussion . 165 Acknowledgements 173 References . . . . . . 174 VIII. La diversite des Gerbillides par F. PETTER. 177 IX. Sotne Observations on Ecological Adaptations of Desert Rodents and Suggestions for further Re- search work by A. DE VAS 185 Introduction . . . . . . 185 The Desert Environment . 185 Ecological Adaptations. . 186 Need for further Research 188 References . . . . . .. . 188 X. The Behavior Patterns of Desert Rodents by J. F. EISENBERG ............... . 189 VIII Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . 189 The Evolution of Desert Adaptations. 190 A Comparison of Behavior Patterns. . 196 A Comparison of Behavior Patterns in: Meriones, Gerbillus and Perognathus . . . . . 210 Spacing and Communication 217 Acknowledgements 221 References . . . . . . . . 221 XI. Activity Patterns ofa Desert Rodent by N. R. FRENCH 225 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225 Methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226 The Microdosimeter and the Index of Activity. 227 Variation in Activity. . . . . . . . . . . . 229 Climatological Variables and Animal Activity . 229 Analysis . 232 Discussion 237 Summary 238 References 239 XII. Patterns of Food, Space and Diversity by M. L. ROSENZWEIG, BARBARA SMIGEL & A. KRAFT. 241 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . 241 Resource Allocation by Seed Selection 242 Habitat Selection in Space . . . . . 251 The Pattern of Local Species Diversity 260 Acknowledgements 266 References . . . . . . . . . . . . 266 XIII. Desert Coloration in Rodents by D. L. HARRISON. 269 Introduction . . . 269 Desert Coloration . 269 Acknowledgements 275 References . . . . 275 XIV. The Biology of so:me Desert-Dwelling Ground Squir- rels by A. C. HA WBECKER . 277 Introduction . 277 Reproduction. . . . . . 279 Food Habits . . . . . . 288 Population Characteristics 294 Habitat Factors . 297 References . . . . . . . 302 IX xv. Reproductive Biology of North ADlerican Desert Rodents by H. D. SMITH & C. D. JORGENSEN. 305 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305 Reproductive Biology: Species Summaries. . . 308 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328 XVI. Rodent Faunas and EnvironDlental Changes in the Pleistocene of Israel by E. TCHERNOV . . . . . . . 331 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331 The Main Biogeographical Changes in the Near-East since the Miocene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331 The Composition of the Rodents Faunas in the Pleistocene of Israel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336 The Main Ecological Changes in the Quarternary of Israel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347 Analysis of the Main Habitats Occupied by the Pleistocene Rodents of Israel . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349 Note on the Origin of the Israeli Desert Rodents 356 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361 XVII. Prehistoric Rodents of the Middle East by PRISCILLA F. TURNBULL. . . 363 Introduction . . . 363 Prehistoric Rodents 364 Discussion . . . . 374 Acknowledgements 376 References 376 Addenda. . . . . 378a XVIII. Desert Rodents: Physiological ProbleDls of Desert Life by K. SCHMIDT-NIELSEN . . . 379 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . 379 Problems of Temperature Regulation. 380 Water Balance, Intake and Loss. 382 References . . . . . . . . . . . . 388 XIX. Ecophysiology of Water and Energy in Desert Marsupials and Rodents by W. V. MACFARLANE. 389 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . 389 Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . 390 Ecophysiology of Water and Energy 390 Discussion 394 References . . . . . . . . . . . 395 XX. TherDlo-Reguiation and Water EconoDlY in Indian Desert Rodents by P. K. GHOSH. . . . . . . . . . 397 x Introduction . . . 397 Methods ..... 397 Thermo-Regulation 398 Water Economy. 401 Conclusion. 410 References . . . 410 XXI. The Physiological Adaptations of Desert Rodents by L. I. GHOBRIAL & T. A. N OUR. . 413 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413 Water Conservation in Desert Rodents. . . . . 416 Structure and Concentrating Mechanisms in the Desert Rodent Kidney.. .......... . 428 Tolerance to Heat and Thermo-Regulation of Desert Rodents .......... . 434 Reproduction in Desert Rodents. 438 References . . . . . . . . . . 441 XXII. NeDlatode Parasites of the Indian Desert Rodents by S. JOHNSON . . . . 445 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445 Material and Methods. . . . . . . . . . . . 445 Nematode Parasites of the Indian Desert Rodents 445 Discussion 462 References . 463 XXIII. Ecology of the Desert Rodents of the U.S.S.R. (Jerboas and Gerbils) by N. P. NAUMOV & V. S. LOBACHEV. 465 Introduction 465 Jerboas . 468 Gerbils 524 References 590 Author Index. 599 Genus and Species Index. 607 Subject Index . . . . . 617 Xl
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