Assessing influences on social dominance in Tamias striatus.

Abstract

Social dominance at prime foraging sites in eastern chipmunks (Tamias striatus) is believed to be related to the need to conserve valuable energy as suggested by the Central Place Foraging Theory. In order to determine the factors which influence dominance, we investigated the effects of sex, weight and the distance from feeding stations to burrows on dominance in T. striatus. We observed behaviors of pairs of interacting chipmunks at a series of feeding stations and determined dominance relationships for those pairs which interacted at multiple stations. Sex and weight were not important factors determining dominance in T. striatus. However, dominance is inversely related to the distance between a chipmunk's burrow and a foraging site. In addition, domiance roles reversed when feeding stations were moved away from the dominant chipmunk's burrow.