Digging deep: hoary marmots (Marmota caligata) use refuge burrows excavated by grizzly bears (Ursus arctos)
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Thomas S. Jung
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Sarah M. Arnold
Abstract
Hoary marmots (Marmota caligata) dig burrows in alpine meadows rich in forage as ready refuge from potential predators. Refuge burrows enable hoary marmots to engage in risk-sensitive foraging when they are away from more secure resting burrows on talus slopes. Grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) commonly excavate refuge burrows while hunting marmots, substantially changing the physical characteristics of the burrow by removing earthen material. However, it is not known if marmots continue to use excavated burrows as refuge. We opportunistically inspected 22 burrows excavated by grizzly bears for use by marmots at two sites in northwestern Canada. We found marmot feces at 10 of 22 excavated burrows, indicating that marmots continued to use these burrows after they were excavated by bears. While marmots may dig several refuge burrows in alpine meadows, and bears may substantially modify them while hunting marmots, our observations indicate that some excavated burrows retain value for foraging marmots. However, the extent of their utility is unknown. We postulate several reasons why hoary marmots may use excavated burrows and suggest avenues for further research.
Funding source: Government of Canada – Polar Continental Shelf Program
Funding source: Government of Canada – HSP
Award Identifier / Grant number: GCXE22C198
Acknowledgements
Work in Nahanni National Park Reserve was carried out on the Traditional Territories of the Kaska Dena and Dehcho First Nations, and that in central Yukon was in the Traditional Territory of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in. We thank Nathan Savoie and James Robinson from Great Slave Helicopters for safe piloting. Colleen Murchison (NNPR) provided key logistical support for our work in Nahanni. Tim Karels provided helpful comments that improved our note.
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Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
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Research funding: Polar Continental Shelf Program, Nahanni National Park Reserve, Habitat Stewardship Program (Government of Canada), and the Yukon Department of Environment (Government of Yukon) provided funding.
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Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest regarding this article.
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Research ethics: No animals were handled during this work.
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© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Ecology
- The extirpation of medium and large mammal species from the Ehotilé Islands National Park, south-eastern Côte d’Ivoire
- Trophic niche overlap among Neotropical carnivores in a silvicultural landscape
- The diet of commensal Crocidura olivieri (Soricomorpha: Soricidae): predation on co-existing invasive Mus musculus suggested by DNA metabarcoding data
- Abundance and activity patterns of the endangered margay (Leopardus wiedii) in temperate forest remnants from the avocado landscape in Mexico
- Bone growth and body weight patterns in juvenile raccoon dogs in Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan
- Bats (Mammalia, Chiroptera) and bat flies (Diptera, Streblidae) found in the largest sandstone cave of Brazil
- Occurrence and population status of the pond bat (Myotis dasycneme) in Northwest Russia
- Conservation
- Distribution and conservation status of the endemic Nilgiri marten (Martes gwatkinsii)
- Enlarging the knowledge on the Ecuadorean rodent Rhagomys septentrionalis (Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae) with remarks on rarity in sigmodontines
- New records of the Annamite striped rabbit in Ngoc Linh, Quang Nam and Kon Tum provinces, Vietnam
- Ethology
- New observations on chimpanzee accumulative stone throwing in Boé, Guinea Bissau
- Potential opportunistic behavior of crab-eating fox Cerdocyon thous (Carnivora, Canidae) in Itapuã State Park, RS, Brazil: possible cases of necrophagy
- Digging deep: hoary marmots (Marmota caligata) use refuge burrows excavated by grizzly bears (Ursus arctos)
- Biogeography
- New records of Myotis bakeri (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae), and preliminary evidence of a new zoogeographic pattern
- Taxonomy/Phylogeny
- The first identification of Tula orthohantavirus in forest dormice (Rodentia: Gliridae) from Iran
- Two cases of mole shrews (Anourosorex squamipes) with albinism in southwestern China
- Corrigendum
- Corrigendum to: Annotations on the taxonomy of the opossums (Didelphimorphia: Didelphidae) of Honduras
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Ecology
- The extirpation of medium and large mammal species from the Ehotilé Islands National Park, south-eastern Côte d’Ivoire
- Trophic niche overlap among Neotropical carnivores in a silvicultural landscape
- The diet of commensal Crocidura olivieri (Soricomorpha: Soricidae): predation on co-existing invasive Mus musculus suggested by DNA metabarcoding data
- Abundance and activity patterns of the endangered margay (Leopardus wiedii) in temperate forest remnants from the avocado landscape in Mexico
- Bone growth and body weight patterns in juvenile raccoon dogs in Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan
- Bats (Mammalia, Chiroptera) and bat flies (Diptera, Streblidae) found in the largest sandstone cave of Brazil
- Occurrence and population status of the pond bat (Myotis dasycneme) in Northwest Russia
- Conservation
- Distribution and conservation status of the endemic Nilgiri marten (Martes gwatkinsii)
- Enlarging the knowledge on the Ecuadorean rodent Rhagomys septentrionalis (Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae) with remarks on rarity in sigmodontines
- New records of the Annamite striped rabbit in Ngoc Linh, Quang Nam and Kon Tum provinces, Vietnam
- Ethology
- New observations on chimpanzee accumulative stone throwing in Boé, Guinea Bissau
- Potential opportunistic behavior of crab-eating fox Cerdocyon thous (Carnivora, Canidae) in Itapuã State Park, RS, Brazil: possible cases of necrophagy
- Digging deep: hoary marmots (Marmota caligata) use refuge burrows excavated by grizzly bears (Ursus arctos)
- Biogeography
- New records of Myotis bakeri (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae), and preliminary evidence of a new zoogeographic pattern
- Taxonomy/Phylogeny
- The first identification of Tula orthohantavirus in forest dormice (Rodentia: Gliridae) from Iran
- Two cases of mole shrews (Anourosorex squamipes) with albinism in southwestern China
- Corrigendum
- Corrigendum to: Annotations on the taxonomy of the opossums (Didelphimorphia: Didelphidae) of Honduras
