| Abstract: | Deer mice ( Peromyscus maniculatus ) are known to larder hoard food, but their scatter-hoarding behavior is poorly documented. Eleven deer mice were each presented with 150 Jeffrey pine ( Pinus jeffreyi ) seeds in 10 γ 10- m enclosures in Jeffrey pine forests on the east slope of the Sierra Nevada. Subjects made a mean ± 1 s of 31.2 ± 30.0 caches per trial. Caches were shallow (most 2-12 mm deep) and usually contained only 1 or 2 seeds. Most caches were made at the edge of antelope bitterbrush ( Purshia tridentata ) shrubs in mineral soil or in thin layers of plant litter. These results suggest that deer mice might make a significant contribution to the dispersal of Jeffrey pine. |
