Foraging Behavior and Food Preferences of the Turuchan Pika (Ochotona turuchanensis)

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-837-0_7How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Herbivore foraging behavior; Forage Selectivity; Grazing Diet; Caching Diet; Macronutrients; Secondary Metabolites

Abstract

This study examines the dietary preferences of Turuchan pikas in its natural habitat. We found some correlations between the chemical composition of plants and their selection by pikas: individuals prefer nitrogen-rich plants both while grazing and caching; plants high in secondary metabolites primarily during caching and grazing in August; and sodium-rich plants mainly during grazing. Nitrogen is a key limiting nutrient for animal vitality, while sodium is often scarce in terrestrial plants consumed by herbivores. The preference for plants containing secondary metabolites may be linked not only to nutritional value but also to their medicinal properties, particularly relevant during periods of botfly larval infestation. Additionally, pika haypiles contain a high proportion of toxic plants, supporting the hypothesis that these compounds help preserve the nutritional quality of stored forage. Although morphological analysis indicates that the choice of plants for caching is not driven by transport efficiency, the conducted experiment shows that pikas maximize the amount of food carried per trip. These findings enhance our understanding of the foraging strategies of the Turuchan pika in its natural habitat.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Natalia Borisova
AU  - Lyudmila Boloneva
AU  - Alexey Starkov
AU  - Daba Chimitov
AU  - Olga Ilchenko
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/09/17
TI  - Foraging Behavior and Food Preferences of the Turuchan Pika (Ochotona turuchanensis)
BT  - Proceedings of the International Biological Conference in Mongolia 2025 (IBCM 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 91
EP  - 103
SN  - 2468-5747
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-837-0_7
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-837-0_7
ID  - Borisova2025
ER  -