Tiny rodents native to the plains of Inner Mongolia in China have been spotted trimming tall grasses to prevent predators from perching near their nests. A study published in Current Biology on Friday (March 11) found that the animals, known as Brandt’s voles (Lasiopodomys brandtii), actively shape their environments to make them safer, an example that experts call “ecosystem engineering.”
The voles’ primary predators are shrikes (Lanius spp.), also known as butcherbirds, which are notorious for their gruesome habit of impaling their prey on a thorn or twig to eat later or attract mates. Shrikes use bunchgrass, a tall, bladed grass that usually grows in discrete tufts, as perches when hunting and as sites to store prey for later consumption, the authors write in the paper.
The study was a collaborative effort between researchers in China, the UK, and the US. Using a combination of field surveys and manipulations, the ...
