Fig 1.
Map of the study microsite with all detected individuals of S. galili.
A bold black line indicates the boundary between the rendzina and basaltic soil parts of the study microsite. Circles and squares represent captured females and males, respectively, and triangles indicate active territories from which animals had not been trapped. Burrow systems excavated are projected on the map. Photographs show typical vegetation types growing in rendzina and basaltic soil at the study microsite.
Table 1.
Food supply and soil parameters of burrow systems of Spalax galili according to the soil type (Nested ANOVA).
Fig 2.
Burrow systems of Spalax galili in rendzina.
Burrow systems of M201, F478 and M023 (partly excavated only) are depicted in real spatial configuration, for the true position of burrow systems of F222 and F416 see Fig 1. The burrow system of F478 was not included into analyses since the female was predated at the very beginning of the study. Red lines represent tunnels backfilled at a time of mapping, dashed lines are most probable connections not found. Green circles encompass nest sites. A dash-dot line indicates the expected boundary between the territories of males M201 and M023.
Fig 3.
Burrow systems of Spalax galili in basaltic soil.
Each triad of male burrow systems (M379, M737, M843) and female burrow systems (F460, F367, F796) is depicted in the real spatial configuration. Red lines represent tunnels backfilled at a time of mapping, dash lines are most probable connections not found. Green circles encompass nest sites.
Table 2.
Parameters of burrow systems of the blind mole rat Spalax galili.
Stored food items were classified as aboveground and underground plant organs (M, male; F, female; Ilin, index of linearity; Icon, index of convolution; FD, fractal dimension; FDu, fractal dimension unconstrained).
Fig 4.
PCA ordination plot showing interrelationships between ecological characteristics (depicted in black) and passively projected burrow system parameters (in grey).
Squares and circles represent males and females, respectively. Solid symbols represent individuals from basaltic soil, open symbols represent those from rendzina. Triangles are centroids for each habitat. The first ordination axis explains 52.5% of the data variability.
Fig 5.
Histograms of body masses of basaltic soil and rendzina populations of Spalax galili.