New Zealand Journal of Zoology abstracts
Mast seeding and mammal breeding: can a bonanza food supply be
anticipated?
T. C. R. White
School of Agriculture, Food and Wine
Waite Agricultural Research Institute
The University of Adelaide
Private Bag No. 1
Glen Osmond
South Australia 5064
tcrwhite@optusnet.com.au
Abstract Boutin et al. (2006) claimed that
American and
Eurasian red squirrels use an unknown environmental cue to anticipate
the availability of the abundant food of an autumn seed mast, and
produce more young than usual in the previous spring and summer. But
these small mammals need increased supplies of protein to produce and
support young, therefore they must have had access to some other
protein-rich food that was available before the mast was ripe.
There are other small mammalian seed-eaters that increase their
reproductive output ahead of the maturation of a seed mast. It seems
likely that, in each case, females are able to produce extra young in
advance because they eat the amino acid-rich inflorescences and unripe
seeds of the mast and/or larval insects that also increase their
numbers in the spring of a mast year by eating the same enriched plant
food.
Keywords feral house mice; mast seeding;
pulsed resources;
protein food; reproductive cues; squirrels
Z07023; Online publication date 20 July 2007; Received 31 May 2007;
accepted 4 July 2007
New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 2007, Vol. 34: 179–183
0301–4223/07/3403–0179 © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2007
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