Seasonal strategies differ between tropical and extratropical herbivores

Seasonal diet shifts and migration are key components of large herbivore population dynamics, but we lack a systematic understanding of how these behaviors are distributed on a macroecological scale.

The prevalence of seasonal strategies is likely related to herbivore body size and feeding guild, and may also be influenced by properties of the environment, such as soil nutrient availability and climate seasonality.

We evaluated the distribution of seasonal dietary shifts and migration across large-bodied mammalian herbivores and determined how these behaviors related to diet, body size, and environment.

We found that herbivore strategies were consistently correlated with their traits: seasonal diet shifts were most prevalent among mixed feeding herbivores and migration among grazers and larger herbivores. Seasonality also played a role, particularly for migration, which was more common at higher latitudes. Both dietary shifts and migration were more widespread among extratropic...

季节性食性转变与迁徙是大型植食性哺乳动物种群动态的核心组成部分，但目前我们尚缺乏对这些行为在大生态尺度上分布格局的系统性认知。

季节性生存策略的流行程度大概率与植食动物的体型及取食功能群（feeding guild）相关，同时也可能受土壤养分有效性、气候季节性等环境属性的影响。

本研究针对大型哺乳类植食动物的季节性食性转变与迁徙的分布情况展开评估，并明确了这些行为与食性、体型及环境之间的关联。

研究结果表明，植食动物的生存策略与其功能性状始终存在显著关联：季节性食性转变在混合取食的植食动物中最为普遍，而迁徙行为则多见于草食性动物与体型更大的植食类群。气候季节性同样发挥了重要作用，对迁徙行为而言尤为显著——高纬度地区的迁徙行为更为常见。食性转变与迁徙在非热带（extratropic）区域的类群中分布更为广泛……