Tamias striatus (Linnaeus 1758)

Eastern chipmunk Tamias striatus

SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ZOOLOGY • NUMBER 265

Social Behavior and Foraging Ecology of the Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus) in the Adirondack Mountains

Lang Elliott

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION PRESS

City of Washington

1978

ABSTRACT

Elliott, Lang. Social Behavior and Foraging Ecology of the Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus) in the Adirondack Mountains. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, number 265, 107 pages, 52 figures, 30 tables, 1978.—Herein are described the social biology and ecology of a field population of eastern chipmunks (Tamias striatus). Spatial dynamics of the population are reviewed and correlated with adult social behavior. Social behavior in the litter prior to dispersal is described and mating dynamics of the species is discussed in detail. Data on foraging behavior are provided, with especial emphasis on the energetics of food-hoarding behavior. Finally, a theoretical framework is proposed that relates spatial and temporal patterning of food resources to the social and spatial systems of the eastern chipmunk.

OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS DATE is handstamped in a limited number of initial copies and is recorded in the Institution's annual report, Smithsonian Year. SERIES COVER DESIGN: The coral Montastrea cavernosa (Linnaeus).

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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Elliott, Lang

Social behavior and foraging ecology of the eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus) in the Adirondack Mountains.

(Smithsonian contributions to zoology; no. 265)