E.S. Zakharov1,2, V.M. Safronov1, A.I. Pavlova2
1Institute for Biological Problems of Cryolithozone SB RAS, prosp. Lenina, 41, Yakutsk, 677980, Russian Federation
2Yakut State Agricultural Academy, ul. Krasil’nikova, 15, Yakutsk, 677007, Russian Federation
Summary. Sable is an omnivorous species feeding on various prey and plant food. Based on the result of analysis of the content of 2860 stomachs, sampled in 1991and 2002-2012, its winter diet was characterized for different ecological and geographical regions of Yakutia. Sable’s diet comprised over 28 food types, 11 of them being vegetarian. The diet was primarily based on northern red-backed, gray-sided and root voles. The secondary group of meat food was made by northern pika, gray lemming, common shrews and birds. The plant food of Yakutian sable was represented basically by seeds of Siberian and dwarf Siberian pines, blueberries and cowberries. Berries are common food and are eaten in amounts depending on their productivity, availability, and the presence of prey food. Pine seed are consumed in fewer amounts as compared to Southern Siberia. However, distribution of the most productive sable populations in the region is strongly correlated with distribution areas of Siberian and dwarf Siberian pines. Sable diet differs in Western and Eastern Yakutia. In the west, the foraging conditions deteriorate along the latitudinal gradient with the disappearance of dwarf pine populations. Strong impoverishment in plant food in the North-West makes local sable populations to be fully dependent on small rodents’ number fluctuations. In Eastern Yakutia, the ratio of plant and prey food changes insignificantly towards the North due to the wide distribution of dwarf pine, species diversity and abundant populations of small rodents in that region.
Keywords: sable, diet, omnivore, prey, plant food.
Author Details: E.S. Zakharov, Cand. Sc. (Biol.), research fellow, assoc. prof. (e-mail: Этот адрес электронной почты защищён от спам-ботов. У вас должен быть включен JavaScript для просмотра.); V.M. Safronov, D. Sc. (Biol.), chief research fellow (e-mail: Этот адрес электронной почты защищён от спам-ботов. У вас должен быть включен JavaScript для просмотра.); A.I. Pavlova, D. Sc. (Vet.), prof.
For citation: Zakharov E.S., Safronov V.M., Pavlova A.I. Winter Diet of Sable (Martes zibellina L.) in Yakutia. Dostizheniya nauki i tekhniki APK. 2016. V. 30. No. 11. Pp. 82-87 (in Russ.).