Pocket Gophers Farm to Obtain Food, Energy for Digging Tunnels

According to a study, humans are not the only species that farm in the animal kingdom. Pocket gophers live underground, creating a complex network of tunneled homes as they go.

They are constructing and navigating this underground maze while also tending to fields of roots. The only mammal that farms, other than humans, is a rodent, according to the team of researchers studying the creatures.

Francis Putz, a biology professor at the University of Florida, said that The pocket gopher is poorly understood and frequently denigrated. For instance, there are numerous ways to kill them if you conduct a search online. The study's author is Putz.

Putz recalled that given the energy requirements of digging, the puzzle of how pocket gophers could procure enough root food from that activity captivated him and his team. The group also questioned why the creatures expend so much energy maintaining vast tunnel networks.

Methodology: 'Gopher' It

Putz joined forces with Veronica Selden, a zoology major who had just completed her undergraduate studies, to investigate what was occurring with the pocket gopher (Geomys pinetis). Working on Putz's property, they grabbed shovels and started digging.

In an effort to keep the gophers out of their tunnels so the team could measure the roots that were expanding in the underground network, they built dams out of metal sheets. For months they tried, mostly in vain, as the cunning rodents figured out ways around the barriers to reach the roots.

Putz claimed that working underground is never easy. They moved more than several dozens of m³ of soil for this project in an effort to locate and then isolate tunnel sections. The team's initial attempts were unsuccessful because the gophers got around the blockades they put in place and filled in the tunnels where they were hoping to measure root ingrowth.

The researchers were successful in developing a solution. They removed the ends of 50-gallon drums and buried one open-side down, around a network of tunnels. Their design allowed the plants to grow while preventing gophers from accessing the study area from any side.

Putz claimed that the team was only able to successfully isolate tunnel segments with extensive root growth after using the cut barrel technique.

Will Farm for Food

The researchers started by figuring out how much root growth occurs every day. The amount of the animals' energy requirements that were satisfied by root crop harvesting was then quantified.

They discovered that the roots they consume while digging don't make up for the considerable amount of energy gophers expend when digging their tunnels. The roots that thrive in the tunnels they have already dug, however, can be harvested and eaten, which might give them the energy they need to continue digging tunnels to find more food.

It is known for other animals to farm. For instance, some ant species grow fungus gardens. They nourish the fungus and defend it against bugs and mold.

Farming gophers does not involve weeding or fertilizing the crops. The researchers then stated that there are various ways to define farming.

According to Putz, farming is the activity of cultivating crops. Many people concentrate on growing annual crops in seasonal ecosystems, but in tropical settings with less seasonality, farming is based on managing perennials and doesn't necessarily require seeding. In this classic form of permaculture, farmers frequently subtly manage trees, shrubs, lianas (woody vines), and other perennial crops so that they produce the desired products, such as starch from either the stems of Metroxylon palms and also edible fruits and leaves from countless species.

When it comes to pocket gophers, they offer the fields where roots flourish as a result of soil aeration and fertilization with gopher waste.

Back to Normal Tunneling

The gophers were inconvenienced by the research, but none were hurt, the researchers acknowledged in their paper.

Putz explains why the rodents fascinate him. Gopher mounds are as common as dirt, but very few people have ever had the opportunity to see one of the creatures in person. It is hoped that learning more about them will increase respect for fossorial beasts, particularly since they have agricultural roots.

Putz makes the point that knowing more about them can aid in their defense. Discoveries like those made by Putz's team await people with strong backs,shovels, and curiosity because of the difficulties of working underground. The team believes that better knowledge of pocket gophers will aid in their preservation, Treehugger reports.