Abstract:Feeding site selection of Marco polo sheep in Taxkorgan Nature Reserve was investigated in June to August in 2016 and 2017. Totally, 46 plots of feeding sites and 46 plots of control sites were measured. And the effects of 12 ecological factors on feeding site selection of Marco polo sheep were evaluated, including aspect, slope position, slope, altitude, vegetation coverage, shrub species richness, graminoid species richness, forb species richness, plant density, aboveground biomass, distance to water and distance to disturbance. The results of comparison between feeding sites and control sites showed that only slope, altitude and distance to water from 12 ecological factors have no significant difference (Table 1), and Marco polo sheep have strong preference on these 12 ecological factors when select their summer feeding sites studied by Vanderploeg and Scavia selection index (Table 2). The summer feeding resource selection function of Marco Polo sheep is Y(X) = e (26.145﹣0.008A + 15.102V + 0.653F + 0.001D), indicating that vegetation coverage (V), forb species richness (F), altitude (A) and distance to disturbance (D) are the 4 key ecological factors that affect the feeding sites selection of Marco polo sheep (Table 4). Analyzed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (Fig. 1), accuracy of this function was 94.38%, which can well reflect the summer feeding sites selection of Marco Polo sheep.

Abstract:A common measure of anti-predator defense in birds under field conditions is the escape-related distances, which an individual would take action (e.g. alert, ?ee) when approached by a potential predator (e.g. human). These distances represent a compromise between the risks of mortality due to predation and foraging opportunities. The difference of escape-related distances among groups should reflect the difference in expected probability of survival: the group with relatively good survival prospect can be predicted to take small risks (long escape-related distances) in order not to jeopardize their prospects of survival. In addition, urban birds should have shorter escape-related distances in order to coexist with humans that caused frequent disturbance than rural ones, while larger flocks have more eyes that should result in an earlier detection of approaching predators, therefore, increasing escape-related distances. We used field data on age-specific escape-related distances in Tree Sparrows Passer montanus (145 adults and 75 juveniles) from Beijing city to test these predictions (Fig. 1 & 2). The analyses showed longer escape-related distances in adult than juvenile (Figs. 3 & 4) (e.g. alert distance in adults 11.76 ± 0.60 m, in juveniles 9.33 ± 0.71 m, Mann-Whitney U test, Z = 2.662，P = 0.008; flight initiation distance in adults 8.71 ± 0.53 m, in juveniles 7.31 ± 0.68 m, Mann-Whitney U test, Z = 1.872，P = 0.061), and the adults, rather than juveniles, have higher probability to be the first individuals to escape within the flock (χ2 = 4.934，df = 1，P = 0.026). Independently, escape-related distances were significantly negatively related with the number of pedestrians, and positively correlated with flock size (Table 1). These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that adults take smaller risks than juveniles.

Abstract:Waterbirds and their seasonal dynamics in 17 mangrove wetlands including Mingren, Huiwen, Xiaohai, Li’angang, Tielugang, Yuya, Qiugang, Yinggehai, Shan′gao, Sigeng, Changhuajiang, Haiwei, Yangpugang, Xinying, Huaguo, Dongzhaigang and Sanjiang (Fig. 1) in Hainan Island, China, were surveyed from November 2015 to June 2016 with binoculars and monocular telescopes by line transects and point counts methods. A total of 74 waterbird species of 5 orders and 12 families were recorded (Appendix 1), among which the Common Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) was recorded for the first time in Hainan Island. The Xinying Bay in Danzhou was found as a new wintering site for the Black-faced Spoonbill (Platalea minor). The Shannon-Wiener index, Pielou index and Jaccard index were measured to identify the waterbird diversity. Shorebird species were accounted for the largest proportion in autumn (10.9%), winter (28.3%), spring (31.5%) and summer (20.8%). The number of shorebirds was the largest proportions in winter (55.7%) and spring (47.6%), however, the number of herons being the largest proportion in autumn (48.6%) and summer (41.5%)(Table 1). The sites with the largest number of waterbirds were Xiaohai of Wanning, Dongzhaigang of Haikou and Yinggehai of Ledong. The sites with the species richness of waterbirds were Dongzhaigang, Sigeng, Yinggehai, Xinying, Changhuagang, Yuya and Huiwen (Table 2). The Pielou index in Huaguo, Shan′gao, Dognzhaigang and Yingehai was higher (Table 2). Dongzhaigang has the highest Shannon-Wiener index and Pielou index. The analysis showed the higher Jaccard comparability index in similar habitats, with Huaguo and Mingren showing more species similarity (Table 4). The abundance and richness of waterbirds showed seasonal dynamics with more species and higher abundance detected in autumn and winter. Our study suggest that coastal mangrove wetlands are important habitats for waterbirds, and protecting mangroves wetlands being a key role in conservation of waterbirds.

Abstract:Eight bird species were recorded during a bird survey in Motuo County, Southeast Tibet of China from February to March in 2019, e.g Crested Kingfisher (Megaceryle lugubris), Lesser Yellownape Woodpecker (Picus chlorolophus), White-bellied Erpornis (Erpornis zantholeuca), Black-headed Shrike Babbler (Pteruthius rufiventer), Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus remifer), Sultan Tit (Melanochlora sultanea), Beautiful Nuthatch (Sitta formosa) and Elachura (Elachura Formosa). The Beautiful Nuthatch is a vulnerable bird formerly recorded only in south Yunnan Province.

Abstract:Female concave-eared torrent frogs (Odorrana tormota) are known to actively vocalize during the reproductive season. Their vocal signals have been well characterized, but the roles of their calls in intersexual mating and the overall mating behavior, in particular how females interact and communicate with males at short ranges, are poorly understood. In order to gain insights into these issues, we used focal animal and all occurrence samplings to record audio visually the behavior of the female (and the males) prior to forming an amplexus. We performed 91 pairings over the span of five years (2013﹣2016; 2018) and, of these, 49 resulted in amplexus and 42 did not. Our audio visual data revealed that short-range intersexual communication in concave-eared torrent frogs involved female emitting multimodal communication signals, including visual signals (eye blink, head bob, belly inflation, toe tapping, back to the male) and acoustic signals. In pairings resulted in amplexus, all visual signals were emitted once or twice, and occasionally 3﹣4 times and acoustic signals was usually emitted 1 to 3 times (Fig. 1). The three most predominant signals were eye blink, vocal signal, and belly inflation. Visual signals were used more often than acoustic signals (Fig. 2). Females appeared to emit signals selectively as the frequencies of emission of eye blink, head bob and belly inflation by individual females differed significantly when pairing resulted in amplexus and when pairing did not produce amplexus (Wilcoxon’s signed rank tests, P < 0.05), and vocal signal, belly inflation, toe tapping, and back to the male appeared only in pairing experiments resulting in amplexus. The differential occurrence of these signals suggests that emission of signals enhanced the probability of amplexus.

Abstract:Acoustic communication plays an important role in the survival and reproduction of anurans. In anurans, the calling activity has a circadian rhythm that is affected by environmental factors and social context. In this study, we recorded the calls of 57 males of Hylarana guentheri, from August to September in 2016, to analyze their acoustic characteristics. We investigated the temporal rhythm of the calling behavior and the relationship with the air temperature and relative humidity (17 d). The results showed that the calls of H. guentheri were composed of from a single note to four notes (Fig. 1), the notes from different call types of H. guentheri differed in dominant frequency and duration (P < 0.05) (Games-Howell test, Table 1). The calling activity occurred from day to night, with a peak at 13:00 - 14:00 (Fig. 2). Moreover, the number of call in single-note calls, two-note calls, three-note calls, total calls and total notes were greater during the day than at night (P < 0.01) (Mann-Whitney U test, Table 2). Furthermore, the calling activity of H. guentheri was affected by the air temperature (P < 0.01) (Spearman correlation analysis, Fig. 3). The results showed that the strategy of call was changed by changing the number of notes, dominant frequency of notes and duration of notes. The calling activity of H. guentheri followed circadian rhythm, and affected by air temperature.

Abstract:During the survey on the amphibian and reptile diversity in Henan Province in late August 2018, eleven individuals of skinks (Scincidae) were captured at the suburb of Tongbai Mountains, Nanyang City. Through morphological analyzing, all of them were identified as Liu’s skink, Plestiodon liui, which is the first record in Henan Province, and the first record in the north region of Yangtze River. Moreover, the characteristics of sexual dimorphisms of the Liu’s skink were clarified. The DNA barcoding COI gene sequences (658 bp) were used to evaluate the phylogenetic placement of P. liui. Examination of phylogenetic analyses recovers the monophyly of the P. capito group, and suggests that P. liui is the sister taxon to P. capito plus P. tunganus.

Abstract:For assessing the feasibility of otolith alizarin complexone (ALC) marking of crucian carp Carassius auratus and providing a useful reference to develop batch marking technologies for the release and enhancement of this species or even other cyprinidae fish, juvenile C. auratus (Fig. 1) were used to investigate the deposition of ALC onto otolith by immersing it in 100 mg/L for 5 d and the dynamic changes of ALC markings among three types of otoliths at different days of subsequent culture after the immersion. The results showed that ALC marking rings were detected on the sagittal, lapillus and asteriscus under visible light, green and blue excitation light with a marking rate of 100% without extra impact on survival and growth of the fish (Fig. 2). However, the marking effect of different otoliths was different. Under fluorescence, asteriscus showed the best marking effect, followed by lapillus, while under visible light, lapillus had the best marking effect, followed by asteriscus (Fig. 3). With the extension of the days of the subsequent culture, the visible light marker gradually weakened and almost disappeared at 20 d. However, under the green and blue excitation light, the fluorescence intensity of the ALC marking ring kept almost stable and was maintained for a long time (Table 1). Moreover, the marker ring could be easily observed under blue excitation light (Fig. 4). In combination with data of mortality, total length and body weight, it is believed that immersion by 100 mg/L ALC for 5 d can achieve satisfactory effect for otolith marking of juvenile C. auratus.

Abstract:The Gomori and H.E staining were used to explore the difference in lung microstructure between Tibetan goat (Capra hircus) and Tibetan sheep (Ovis aries). The results showed that there was no significant difference in lung capsule thickness between these two species (P > 0.05), but the number of elastic fibers in Tibetan goat lung capsule was more than that in Tibetan sheep (P < 0.05) (Fig.1 and Table 1). There was no significant difference in alveolar area (P > 0.05), but the alveolar septum of Tibetan goat was significantly wider with much more capillaries than that of Tibetan sheep (P < 0.05) (Table 2). There was no significant difference in the thickness of bronchioles plica, but the bronchiole smooth muscle of Tibetan goat was significantly thicker than that of Tibetan sheep (P < 0.05)（Fig.2 and Table 3). The average number of goblet cells in the bronchioles mucosa epithelium of Tibetan goat was significantly more than that in Tibetan sheep (P < 0.05) (Table 3). In addition, the percentage of vascular smooth muscle in the pulmonary arteriole with diameter less than 100 μm was significantly higher in Tibetan goat than that in Tibetan sheep (P < 0.05), while the difference was not significant when the pulmonary arteriole diameter was greater than 100 μm (P > 0.05) ( Table 4).

Abstract:This study was designed to analyze the structure and functions of vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene in Tarim red deer (Cervus elaphus yarkandensis). The expression of VDR gene was verified by quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) based on transcriptome sequencing results. Homology comparison, phylogenetic tree construction and bioinformatics analysis were carried out using related software. The up-regulated expression trend of VDR gene in qPCR was consistent with that in transcriptome sequencing. The results of homology comparison and phylogenetic tree construction showed that the genetic distance between VDR gene of Tarim red deer and that of Odocoileus virginianus (GenBank accession number: XM_020889235.1) was the closest and the homology was the highest, while the genetic distance between VDR gene of Tarim red deer and that of Rattus norvegicus (GenBank accession number: NM_017058.1) was far and the homology was the lowest, which was confirmed by phylogenetic tree. Bioinformatics analysis showed that the Tarim red deer VDR protein was composed of 20 kinds of amino acids with molecular weight of 32.92 ku and its theoretical isoelectric point was 5.73. It was predicted that the instability index of VDR protein was 33.56, the lipid solubility index was 94.95, and its hydrophilic average coefficient was﹣0.298. VDR did not have transmembrane region, O-glycosylation site and signal peptide, but it had 1 N-glycosylation site and 15 phosphorylation sites, most likely located in the endoplasmic reticulum membrane. The secondary and tertiary structures of VDR protein were mainly comprised of α-helix and random coil. It had 3 low complexi regions and did not have conservative structure regions.

Abstract:Using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) Cyt b gene and D-loop control region as molecular markers, genetic diversities of 60 Pseudecheneis sulcata samples from two populations in the upper Lilong section and the lower Motuo section of the Yarlung Zangbo River Grand Canyon were studied. The effective sequence length of the combination gene was 1 893 bp, including 1 060 bp Cyt b gene and 833 bp D-loop control region. The results showed that the haplotype diversity values (Hd) of both Lilong and Motuo populations were high (0.701 and 0.761), and the nucleotide diversity values (π) were low (0.001 00 and 0.001 09). A high frequency of Hap1 and Hap2 was observed in both populations, which were presumed to be ancestral haplotypes. Meanwhile, there were 5 and 6 unique haplotypes in Lilong and Motuo populations, respectively, and they were not shared between the two populations. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed that the genetic variation mainly originated from within the population, with moderate genetic differentiation between populations (Fst = 0.090 44, P < 0.05). Neutral test (Tajima''s D and Fu''s Fs) and nucleotide mismatch analysis (SSD and Hir) revealed that Pseudecheneis sulcata had experienced population expansion. This study indicated that there were barriers in gene flow between the two populations of P. sulcata. The ecological barriers such as altitude difference and hydrological situation of the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon may be the main reasons for hindering the migration and communication in P. sulcata.

Abstract:Chinese sturgeon, Acipenser sinensis, is in extremely Critically Endangered status. The Beijing aquarium is used as the major education and ex situ base for support this conservation, where the sturgeon can be cared individually. The blood cell is an important indicator of clinical for healthy judgment. In this study, the peripheral blood cells of 40 sturgeons distributed in 7 age groups were studied, including the > 30a (from the wild samples), 18a, 16a, 15a, 11a, 7a and 4a. The changes of blood indexes at different ages, development stages and stages of disease were analyzed, in order to apply in the health evaluation. ANOVA was used to analyze the variance between different age groups. Paired-Samples T Test was conducted to analyze the difference before and after gonadal development and the difference before and after disease. The average concentration of erythrocytes (RBC), leukocytes (WBC) and thrombocytes were 5.56 ± 1.19 × 1011/L, 16.53 ± 4.94 × 109/L and 15.53 ± 15.82 × 109/L respectively. The differential leukocyte count (DLC) results showed that, the percentage of large lymphocyte (LLYM) was 5.26% ± 3.95%, small lymphocyte (SLYM) was 77.74% ± 11.73%, neutrophil (NEU) was 9.40% ± 7.98%, eosinophil (EOS) was 1.90% ± 2.06% and monocyte (MON) was 5.50% ± 4.00% respectively, and the results of different ages were in Table 2. The RBC of 18 age and 11 age groups showed significant differences with the rest of groups. The haematocrit (HCT) and hemoglobin (HB) of > 30 age group had significant differences with other groups (P < 0.05, Table 2). The WBC of 18 age had significant difference with 4 age group, and they all had significant differences with the rest of groups (P < 0.05, Table 2). The neutrophil and lymphocyte of > 30 age had significant differences with 4 age group, and they all had significant differences with other groups (Table 2). In the quickly development stage of gonad, the average level of HCT was changed from 27.98% ± 6.77% to 39.67% ± 6.01%, the RBC was from 5.34 ± 1.30 × 108/ml to 7.50 ± 1.37 × 108/ml, and the WBC was from 11.15 ± 4.75 × 109/L to 22.00 ± 9.99 × 109/L, they were significantly increased than before (P < 0.05, Fig. 1), the average level of HB was from 74.32 ± 20.69 g/L to 90.71 ± 18.58 g/L and there was no significant difference. The WBC of diseased sturgeons was increased by 90%, which had significant difference with that before (P < 0.05, Fig. 2), and along with the decrease of RBC, HCT and HB. The differential leukocyte count (DLC) of diseased sturgeons changed significantly, primarily neutrophils and monocytes (Fig. 3). It concluded that the immune system of A. sinensis was mainly composed of lymphocytes, granulocytes and monocytes. The hematology of the peripheral blood cells of A. sinensis was different before and after the quickly gonadal development or when they were diseased, it can be used to judge the condition of A. sinensis in time. The results are important to the health assessment and conservation research of A. sinensis.

Abstract:To investigate the effects of salinity on digestive ability and antioxidant capacity in juvenile Lateolabrax maculatus, four salinity levels (0, 10, 20, 30) were set in this study. After 30 days’ culture, tissue samples were collected and preserved in liquid nitrogen for later use. According to the manufacturer’s instructions, the activities of pepsin (PPS), amylase (AMS), lipase (LPS), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) and malondialdehyde (MDA) content were measured using kit analysis. The results showed that the PPS activity was higher at salinity 0 than at higher salinities, and there were significant differences among different salinity groups. In the same salinity group, the enzyme activity of peptic cathepsin was higher than that of pyloric caecum and intestinal tract (Fig. 1). With the increase of salinity, the activity of AMS in gastric tissue decreased gradually, while the activity of AMS in pyloric caecum and intestinal tract increased gradually (Fig. 2). In gastric tissues, LPS at salinity 0 had a high activity, LPS at salinity 10 had the lowest activity, enzyme activity increased at salinity 20 and salinity 30 gradually, reaching the maximum at salinity 30, and there was significant difference among groups (P < 0.05); in pyloric caecum, the activity of LPS increased firstly and then decreased with the increase of salinity; in intestinal tissue, there was no significant difference in LPS activity between salinity 0 and salinity 10 group (P > 0.05), and then gradually increased (Fig.3). The highest activities of SOD and CAT in liver were found in group salinity 0 and the other three groups showed similar values (Fig. 4); the activities of SOD and CAT in muscle increased with salinity increase as a whole (Fig. 5). MDA and T-AOC were higher in liver at salinity 30 and 0 (Fig. 6), while in muscle, MDA content reached a higher value at salinity 10 and then increased with higher salinities (P < 0.05), but the difference was not significant (P > 0.05); T-AOC content also reached the highest value at salinity 10 and decreased in other groups (Fig. 7). The results show that different digestive enzymes need different salinity conditions for their proper functiopns in juvenile L. maculatus, and that the changes of salinity may induce the response of antioxidant system.

Abstract:Temperature is an important environmental factor that affects the distribution of species and causes the physiological stress response of species. After being introduced into China, the invasive species, Pomacea canaliculata has become a serious pest of important agricultural crops as well as a threat to ecosystems in its invaded regions. Effects of temperature on antioxidant enzyme activities and the malondialdehyde (MDA) contents in the hepatopancreas and gill of P. canaliculata were investigated. P. canaliculata were acclimated for two weeks with temperature 25 ℃. After acclimation, the low and high temperature stress experiments were conducted. The temperature maintaining at 15 ℃ was designated as low-temperature group, 36 ℃ as high-temperature group，and 25 ℃ as control group, with three replicates for each group．All data were analyzed and compared with one-way ANOVA and Duncan using SPSS 22.0. The results showed that the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and the malondialdehyde contents in the hepatopancreas and gill of P. canaliculata changed similarly, both increased first and then decreased under low or high temperature stress (Fig.1﹣8). In groups of 15 ℃ and 36 ℃, CAT activity in gill and SOD activity in hepatopancreas were significant higher than in the control group after 6 h (P < 0.05) and at the highest level at 48 h (P < 0.01, Fig. 2, 3). The activity of GSH-Px in gill and hepatopancreas increased at 12 h and reached the highest level in both low and high temperature groups at 24 h (Fig. 5, 6). MDA contents in gill and hepatopancreas of P. canaliculata were at the highest in the group of 15 ℃ at 24 h and group of 36 ℃ at 12 h, respectively (Fig. 7, 8). There were no significant differences of SOD, CAT, GSH-Px activities and MDA contents between temperature treatment groups and 25 ℃ control group at 72 h (P > 0.05). Furthermore, gills appeared more sensitive to defense oxidative damages than hepatopancreas. The results suggest that temperature stimulation can activate antioxidant enzymes activities in the hepatopancreas and gill of P. canaliculata, and eliminate reactive oxygen species (ROS) induced by low and high temperature stress.

Abstract:Wild birds are a natural reservoir for avian influenza virus. The virus can spread to other wild birds and domestic birds during migration. Bohai Bay is an important stopover site located in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. Every year, a large number of waterbirds rest in Bohai Bay, which accelerated the spread of the virus. To understand the correlation between the transmission and evolution of avian influenza virus and waterbirds migration in Bohai Bay during the spring, 2 120 fecal samples of waders were collected in western Bohai Bay from April to May in 2018. The samples were treated and tested, two strains of H2 subtype avian influenza virus were isolated, and their molecular characteristics and genetic evolution were analyzed. Combining the banding and recovery data of waterbirds, the association between the spread of H2 subtype virus and waterbirds migration was explored. The results showed that the HA protein cleavage site of the two isolates were consistent with the molecular characteristics of low pathogenicity avian influenza virus. All 8 gene fragments of these two strains were not highly homologous. The 8 gene fragments of A/waders/Hebei/879/2018 (H2N7) had the highest homology and the closest genetic relationship with the strains in Fujian and Australia (Table1 for homology and Appendix 1 for genetic relationship). The 8 gene fragments of A/waders/Hebei/854/2018 (H2N8) had the highest homology and the closest genetic relationship with the strains in Hunan, Japan, Korea, Bangladesh and Vietnam, respectively (Table 1 for homology and Appendix 2 for genetic relationship). Based on the banding and recovery data of waterbirds in Bohai bay, AIV 879-H2N7 was spread with the wild bird migration between Bohai Bay, Fujian and Australia, AIV 854-H2N8 was spread and genetic reassortment was taken place with wild bird migration between East Asian-Australasian Flyway and Central Asia-India Flyway.

Abstract:The effect of ocean acidification on shellfish was a long–term process, however, the water pH can be changed rapidly in aquaculture. Therefore, the study of physiological responses of shellfish in different sizes under different pH stress would be with significatively value in the aquaculture. In this study, we used the blood clam (Tegillarca granosa) with different sizes (9.12 mm, 22.38 mm and 32.35 mm) as a model to explore the effects of feeding physiology under different pH (6.5﹣9.5) stress (Table 1). Clearance rate, ingestion rate and absorption efficiency were determined in static bioassay tests, which were used to represent the feeding physiology of the mud clam. At pH = 8.5, the clearance rates from high to low were as follows: large > medium > small (Fig. 1); the ingestion rates from high to low were as follows: medium, large, small (Fig. 2); and the absorption efficiencies from high to low as follows: medium > small > large (Fig. 3). Although the large blood clam had the highest Clearance rate, the medium blood clam had higher ingestion and absorption capacity. The clearance rate, ingestion rate and absorption efficiency of blood clam were related to pH and its size (P < 0.05) by two–way ANOVA. The influence of pH on the clearance rates were as follows: small (P < 0.05) < medium (reference) < large (P > 0.05) (Fig. 1); the influence of ingestion rates were as follows: large (P > 0.05) < small (reference) < medium (P < 0.05) (Fig. 2); and the influence of absorption rates were as follows: small (P > 0.05) < medium (reference) < large (P < 0.05) (Fig. 3). The Ingestion rate of medium blood clam was greatly affected by the environmental pH, and the absorption efficiency of large blood clam was greatly affected by the environmental pH.

Abstract:Food hoarding for future use is an important behavioral strategy adopted by animals to adapt to periodic food scarcity. The evolution of food hoarding behavior critically depends upon the actual consumption of hoarded foods, and enhancement of their fitness. Pilferage by inter- and intra-specific competitors is one of the key reasons of cache-loss for hoarders. In the evolutionary arms race between hoarders and pilferers, both of them should consider the trade-off between cache pilferage and protection. Food hoarding mammals and birds often exhibit avoidance, prevention, and/or tolerance to reduce cache pilferage by others (cache protection), whereas, they rely on olfactory cues, spatial memory and random searching to pilfer food from cache owners (cache pilferage). Food sharing through cache pilferage and protection among sympatric animals that share similar diets is beneficial for coexistence, and has recently attracted much attention in behavioral ecology. Previous studies show that food hoarders (e.g., mammals and birds) usually adopt one or several strategies of hiding caches, changing cache sites, fighting, evicting, or sharing caches to reduce cache pilferage (cache protection), and of olfactory cues, visual and spatial cues, or random searching to pilfer foods from others (cache pilferage). Interactions of cache pilferage and protection among sympatric animals are beneficial for their coexistence both at the population and community levels. Contributions of cache pilferage and protection to coexistence in sympatric animals, asymmetric pilferage between interspecific species and optimal model of cache pilferage and protection in food hoarding animals are needed more attention in the future.

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