Food Resource Partitioning Among the Large Herbivores of Eastern Mongolia in Summer
S. SHEREMETEV1, S. B. ROZENFELD2, I. A. DMITRIEV2, L. JARGALSAIKHAN3, S. ENKH-AMGALAN4
1Institute Biology and Soil Science FEB RAS, 690022, Vladivostok, 100-letya Vladivostok ave., 159
2А. N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS, 119071, Moscow, Leninskij ave., 33
3Institute of Botany MAS, 190070, Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, Jukov str., 77
4Institute of Geography MAS, 210620, Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, Post office box 361
Keywords: herbivores, niche overlap, competition, Mongolian gazelle, steppe, cattle
Abstract
The Mongolian gazelle Procapra gutturosa Pallas and five cattle species use steppe plants in a common way. The overgrazing-induced desertification of steppe is closely connected with the functioning principles of the community of large Mongolian herbivores. The data from the matrix “plants-herbivores”, obtained by cuticular analysis, can help to determine the role of trophic relationships among the large herbivores of Mongolian steppe. Having estimated pasture use patterns, food niche overlap, and competitive advantages of the studied species, we concluded that the present population decline in the Mongolian gazelle was conditioned not only by the overkill and habitat fragmentation, but also by the composition, abundance, and spatial distribution of cattle.
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