Habitat use by female desert tortoises suggests tradeoffs between resource use and risk avoidance.

ABSTRACT: Animals may select habitat to maximize the benefits of foraging on growth and reproduction, while balancing competing factors like the risk of predation or mortality from other sources. Variation in the distribution of food resources may lead animals to forage at times or in places that carry greater predation risk, with individuals in poor quality habitats expected to take greater risks while foraging. We studied Mojave desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) in habitats with variable forage availability to determine if risk aversion in their selection of habitat relative was related to abundance of forage. As a measure of risk, we examined tortoise surface activity and mortality. We also compared tortoise body size and body condition between habitats with ample forage plants and those with

SUBMITTER: Nafus MG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9390940 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature