The Mongolian gerbil lives in dry grassland and steppe in Mongolia, northern China, and nearby areas. It digs burrows and forages for seeds and other plant food.
Its fur ranges from gray to yellow-brown, with darker tips and a pale underside.
Researchers studied a wild Mongolian Gerbil population at one semiarid steppe site in Inner Mongolia, China. From 2014 to 2017 they live-trapped the animals about twice a month. They identified 359 gerbils and recorded 2,457 captures across the study period.
Annual peak population size declined from 2014 to 2017. The analysis found a curved relationship between temperature and survival: survival first increased and then decreased as temperature rose. Higher temperature was linked with greater recruitment, while higher population density reduced recruitment.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
At the Inner Mongolian site, temperature related to survival in a nonlinear way, while population density reduced recruitment. The study shows why both weather and population density matter when examining how climate change may affect small-mammal populations.