Foraging Behavior of Eastern Chipmunks between Two Levels of Human Presence BIOS 35502-01: Practicum in Field Biology

Animals are known to exhibit different temperaments when living in human proximity. Eastern chipmunks (Tamias striatus) specifically behave more boldly and are more docile when their territories are in proximity to human structures. Differences in behavior across a gradient of human disturbance can indicate underlying differences in personality across the gradient. Changes in average personalities of a species may alter the fitness of the species. Eastern chipmunks, capable of living near many levels of human disturbance, can be studied for the effects of human disturbance on foraging behavior. I used giving-up density (GUD) to compare the foraging behaviors of chipmunks at two sites in the woods and two sites near buildings and human traffic at the University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center – East. I found that chipmunks living far from human disturbance began using the seed trays more slowly, preferred to forage at sites farther from the road, and did not take as many seeds as chipmunks near human structures. Videos of foraging at each of the four plots suggested an increase in speed of seed collection for chipmunks living at the sites near human structures, indicating bolder foraging patterns with less time spent immobile. The divergence in foraging behavior of chipmunks living near human disturbance may indicate a divergence in temperament of chipmunks living near human structures, based on the adaptive nature of different traits in human-disturbed areas, and a depression in expression of certain temperaments that were adaptive in pristine areas. Introduction When animals are exposed to humans and the modified environments that humans create, they may undergo physiological and behavioral changes. For example, Magellanic penguins unaccustomed to human presence display physiological symptoms of stress if they experience tourists walking by their breeding ground, whereas penguins accustomed to tourists do not