Gray fox ecology in the Oak Ridge National Environmental Research Park: Food habits, home range, and habitat use
Examination of 170 gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) scats collected between September 1986 and August 1987 on the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR), East Tennessee, revealed that plant foods were utilized most heavily, followed by invertebrate and animal prey. Proportions of the 3 categories utilized were not evenly distributed among months and were dictated by availability. Biological seasons were delineated by detection of statistically significant shifts in diet among the 3 food categories. Animal prey, predominantly rabbits and rodents, comprised 67.0% of winter (January-April) dry weight (100% occurrence); arthropods, predominantly 17-year locusts (Magicicada sp.), comprised 96.1% of spring (May) dry weight (275% occurrence); plant material, predominantly persimmon, cherry, blackberry and squaw-root, comprised 92.9% of summer-fall (June-December) dry weight (161.6% occurrence). This study indicated that gray foxes may switch dietary trophic level depending on seasonal food availability. 188 refs., 25 figs., 14 tabs.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-84OR21400
- OSTI ID:
- 7097297
- Report Number(s):
- ORNL/NERP-3; ON: DE89001301
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Thesis (M.S.). Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products. Thesis. Submitted by C.H. Greenberg to Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville. Environmental Sciences Division Publication No. 3101
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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