Search

From the novel results of comprehensive geological–hydrobiogeochemical studies conducted on Olkhon Island (Lake Baikal), it follows that the phenomenon of geophagy among wild and domestic ungulates on the island is caused by the deficiency of light subgroup rare earth elements (LREE) in plant food and natural waters, while not denying the possible role of other factors. This deficiency reflects the low LREE specificity of the most abundant metamorphic terrigenous carbonate rocks on the island, as well as their overlying eluvium–deluvium and soils. The resulting specificity of the landscapes may be the cause of the LREE imbalance in the nervous and hormonal systems of the body, which makes the animals regularly and periodically consume clay (kaolinite) products from weathering, enriched with the necessary nutritional elements. The identified cause of geophagy on Olkhon Island is likely to extend to a significant part of geophagy cases among animals, including humans, especially in the equatorial zone of the Earth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geological and hydrobiogeochemical studies carried out in two areas in the Teletskoye Lake basin in the Altai Mountains suggest that geophagy among wild and domestic herbivores in the studied areas develops in mountain-taiga with steppe landscapes on Proterozoic metamorphic rocks near the Paleozoic granitoids with high concentrations of magmatogenic minerals of rare earth elements (REE). This fact is the reason for high concentrations of REE in loose diluvial deposits and glacial deposits adjacent to granitoids, as well as in derivative soils and vegetation. REE concentrations in the vegetation of the studied territories were almost similar to the geophagy sites previously investigated in the Sikhote-Alin. The geochemical specificity of landscapes revealed both in the Altai Mountains and in the Sikhote-Alin may be the cause of REE imbalance in the hormonal system of the body. It forces animals to address the resulting problems with mineral sorbents of the quartz-feldspar-illite-chlorite type which can remove the excess of REE from the body. When selecting these, the animals tend to find sodium-enriched varieties if possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The persistence of wildlife populations largely depends on females successfully rearing young through the earliest, most vulnerable period. During this period, mothers must balance the costs of home range maintenance, food acquisition, and protection of cubs. We monitored a GPS-collared Amur tigress Panthera tigris altaica for 4 months prior to and 4 months after giving birth to assess how home range size, activity budget, movements, and hunting behavior changed between these periods. After birth, home range size collapsed as activities were centered around the den site. With cubs, the tigress spent slightly less time moving, but greatly increased the rate at which she traveled. Kill rate, handling time, and daily consumption rates did not change significantly, but there was an indication that larger prey were killed during the natal denning period than in other periods. When cubs left the den site and started travelling with their mother, the female was able to increase time spent with cubs, reducing risk of predation. We hypothesize that some of the behaviors of this tigress, which appeared likely to increase cub survival, may be universal across the species, but others will be dependent on ecological parameters specific to the site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Siberian musk deer Moschus moschiferus , categorized as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, is a small ungulate associated with coniferous forests of East Asia. In Russia the species is hunted both legally and illegally for the commercially valuable musk gland in males. Steep population declines recorded in recent decades have been generally attributed to intensive illegal hunting, but the decline has coincided with increased logging activity and the concomitant expansion of logging roads. We conducted an occupancy analysis in Primorskii Krai, Russia, to elucidate the relative importance of environmental, ecological and anthropogenic features associated with the presence of musk deer. The top model contained covariates related to the abundance of bearded lichen Usnea spp., the distance to a main road and the distance to logging sites, suggesting that both intensive hunting of musk deer (associated with greater accessibility via roads) and logging of habitat are influencing the occurrence of this species. We propose several management actions to limit the negative influence of logging and logging roads on musk deer in Russia, including encouraging logging companies to set aside high conservation value forests (to retain intact forests) and to close logging roads post-harvest (to reduce access by poachers). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mineral and chemical composition of the liquid and lithogenous substances, consumed by the wild ungulate animals, at the kudurs of the Teletskoye Lake, Gorny Altai, Russia, was studied. It was investigated that all examined kudurits are argillous-aleurolitic and get in the interval from 1 to 100 μm with the predominance of the fraction 10 μm. By the mineral composition, the lithogenous kudurits present the quartz-feldspathic-hydromicaceous-chloritic mineral formations with the large content of the quartz particles (20-43%) and sodium-containing plagioclases (albite, 15-32 wt%). The lithogenous kudurits are the products of the reconstitution of the metamorphic cleaving stones as a result of the glacier abrasive effect, subsequent its aqueous deposits and then eolation in the subaerial conditions. The fontinal waters consumed at the kudurs are subsaline chloride-hydrocarbonate-sodium and sulphated-hydrocarbonate-calcium types. It essentially differs by the increased content of rare-earth elements in reference to the lake water. The acid (HCl, pH-1) extracts from the kudurits more actively extract calcium (10-35% of the gross contents; sodium extracts at the level of 1-3%). The most fluent in the microelements composition are Cu, Be, Sr, Co, Cd, Pb, Sc, Y and rare-earth elements. The transit of all these elements into the dissoluted form fluctuates about 10% from the gross contents. The reason of geophagy is related to tendency of herbivores to absorb mineralized subsoils enriched by the biologically accessible forms of rare-earth elements, arisen as a result of vital activity of specific microflora. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]