Seasonal dietary shifts and food resource exploitation by the hog badger (Arctonyx collaris) in a Chinese subtropical forest

摘要: Spatial and temporal fluctuations in the availability of food resources can affect adaptive foraging strategies substantially, with potential to promote dietary switching specialisation among generalist carnivores. To understand this relationship better at causal level, we examined spatial variation diet composition diversity hitherto little-known hog badger (Arctonyx collaris), comparison environmental abundance principal resources, a subtropical forest central China. Here, badgers fed predominantly on earthworms fruits, complemented arthropod imagoes invertebrate larvae, whereas vertebrate prey categories (mammals, birds reptiles) were consumed infrequently. We observed strong seasonal consumption different categories. Earthworms predominated during spring, fruits autumn, earthworms, by arthropods, summer, apparently hibernating winter. Fluctuation preferences between seasons habitats correlated only partially abundance; when fruit peaked, despite concomitant peak earthworm abundance, exhibited shift, indicating preference for fruit, over earthworms. This resulted autumnal minima niche breadth evenness values. conclude that, region, but switched response changes abundance.