UDC 574.2:599.32

Omarov R.R., Omarov K.Z. THE STATE FOOD RESOURCES AND FEEDING SELECTIVITY OF THE MIDDAY GERBIL (MERIONES MERIDIANUS) IN THE ARIDI CONDITIONS OF THE NORTH-WESTERN CASPIAN // Arid Ecosystems. 2023. Vol. 29. № 4 (97). P. 127-134. | PDF

In 2015-2018 a study was made of the species composition, productivity of vegetation cover and the composition of the diet of midday gerbils in the arid zone of the North-Western Caspian region. Midday gerbils use all types of available food in their diet, but in different seasons of the year they can vary significantly in percentage. Using the method of cuticular-scatological analysis, it was shown that in the spring in the diet of midday gerbils, the largest share is made up of protruding Velcro (K = 15.97), common barley (K = 9.5) and alfalfa (K = 5.4); in summer — bulbous bluegrass (K = 12.3), white amaranth (K = 3.5) and Siberian wheatgrass (K = 4.3). In autumn, high rates of selectivity are characteristic of bulbous bluegrass (K = 13.2). In winter, midday gerbils feed mainly on the seeds of white amaranth (K = 11.2) and Siberian wheatgrass (K = 2.5), as well as bluegrass bulbs (K = 14.3). In winter, there is practically no selectivity in nutrition in the diet of midday gerbils, and they use all the food available at this time of the year.

Keywords: Northwestern Caspian, Meriones meridianus, diet composition, food selectivity.

Funding. The work was carried out with financial support within the framework of the state assignment of the Caspian Institute of Biological Resources, a separate subdivision of the Dagestan Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, registration number 122032200288-0.

DOI: 10.24412/1993-3916-2023-4-127-134

EDN: SXZDVX