Bite-Count vs Fecal Analysis for Range Animal Diets

Sanders, Kenneth D.; Dahl, B. E.; Scott, G.

doi:10.2307/3898431

Cited by 46 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Benefits and detriments of the microhistological technique have been described by Westoby et al (1976), Smith and Shandruk (1979), Sanders et al (1980) Holechek et al (1982), andGill et al (1983). The technique is the only practicable 1 currently available to study shy endangered species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forage availability versus seasonal diets, as determined by fecal analysis, of dorcas gazelles in Morocco

Loggers¹

1991

Mammalia

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Diets of adult female and territorial adult male dorcas gazelles, determined by microhistological analysis, and availability of vegetation, defined as the biomass within 1.2 m of the ground of those species eaten during a season and measured using reference units, were measured during 3 seasons on a reserve in Morocco. Comparisons between sexes, seasonal diets, and use and availability were made using Spearman's rank correlation. Use and availability for individual species were also compared using /-tests that incorporated Bonferroni confidence intervals. Diets of females and males were highly correlated. Available biomass and diets changed between summer (July-Aug.), autumn (Oct.-Nov.), and spring (Mar.-Apr.). There was no relationship between diet and availability within a season. During summer, forbs and shrubs constituted 24 % of available forage but comprised 93 % of the diet. In autumn, consumption of shrubs increased to 63 % ; the high consumption of Zizyphus lotus relative to availability underscores its importance to the gazelles. Grasses in the diet increased to 50 % in spring, and shrubs decreased to 2%. Fruit from Z. lotus did not appear in diet analysis, though was an important component of summer diets. Close grouping of individual diets for animals that were associated suggets that the scale at which availability is measured must be reduced.Resume. -Le regime alimentaire des femelles adultes et des males adultes territoriaux de gazelles dorcas a ete mesure d'apres des analyses microhistologiques des feces et d'apres la biomasse ä 1,20 m du sol, de la vegetation disponible ; cette etude a ete faite aux endroits ou ces animaux se nourrissent pendant une saison, en utilisant des unites de reference, pendant trois saisons, dans une reserve au Maroc.En utilisant la correlation de Spearman, on a compare les sexes, le regime saisonnier et Putilisation et la disponibilite de la nourriture. On a aussi compare son utilisation et sa disponibilite pour les individus en utilisant des tests auxquels on a incorpore des intervalles de confiance de Bonferroni. On a constate aussi une grande correspondance entre ralimentation des femelles et celle des males. La biomasse disponible et la qualite de la nourriture ont varie entre 1'ete, 1'automne, et le printemps. II n'y a pas de relations entre la nourriture et la disponibilite au cours d'une meme saison. Pendant 1'ete, les plantes herbacees et les arbustes constituent 24 % de la nourriture disponible, mais representent 93 % du regime (75 % d'herbe et 18 % d'arbustes). En automne, la consommation d'arbustes s'accroit jusqu'ä 63 % ; la consommation elevee de Zizyphus lotus (28 %) par rapport ä sa disponibilite (2 %) souligne son importance pour les gazelles. La consommation de graminees est montee jusqu'ä 50 % au printemps et celle des arbustes a diminue jusqu'ä 2 % dans l'analyse de la nourriture, bien qu'ils soient une composante importante de 1'alimentation en ete. Mammalia, t. 55, n° 2, 1991.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forage availability versus seasonal diets, as determined by fecal analysis, of dorcas gazelles in Morocco

Loggers¹

1991

Mammalia

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“…Diet composition was assessed using the bite count method (Sanders et al, 1980;Laca et al, 1994) without considering bite mass. Comparisons among groups were made using only the overall number of bites, as all animals had the same opportunities in similar vegetation composition to take similar bite sizes.…”

Section: Botanical Diet Composition and Weight Gainmentioning

confidence: 99%

Foraging behavior of heifers with or without social models in an unfamiliar site containing high plant diversity

et al. 2010

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“…Because bite counts provide a more accurate picture of the composition of the ingested forage (Sanders et al, 1980), the proportions of forage categories in the faecal analyses were adjusted as follows (Table 1) Assuming that the proportion of individual food plants were biased by the same factors as the category to which they belonged, their proportions were also adjusted by the same factors. Because adjusting the proportions on the basis of bite counts produced quite different results, and because other diet studies on these ungulates have reported non-adjusted values, both estimates are provided for ease of comparison.…”

Section: Adjustment Of the Faecal Analysis Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Summer diets of wild and domestic ungulates in Nepal Himalaya

2005

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The selection of summer forage by three sympatric ungulates in the Damodar Kunda region of upper Mustang in north Nepal was studied to assess the extent of food overlap between them. To compare their diets, a microhistological technique of faecal analysis was used, adjusted for inherent biases by comparing it with bite-count data obtained in domestic goats. Tibetan argali Ovis ammon hodgsoni, naur (blue sheep or bharal) Pseudois nayaur and domestic goat Capra hircus consumed mostly forbs, graminoids and browse, respectively. The proportions of food items in their diets were significantly different both at the plant species (P < 0.02) and at the forage category level (P < 0.001). Except for sharing three common plants (Agrostis sp., Stipa sp. and Potentilla fruticosa), dietary overlap at the species level was quite low. At the forage category level, naur and domestic goat overlapped more than the other ungulate pairs. Although all three species were opportunistic, mixed feeders, argali was a more selective forb specialist grazer than the other two ungulates. Owing to some spatial separation and little dietary overlap, interspecific competition for summer forage was low. If animal densities increase, however, goats are expected to compete more with naur than with argali because of their more similar diets. Owing to differences in forage selection by argali and naur throughout their large geographical ranges, reflecting adaptations to local ecological conditions, inferences regarding forage competition between domestic livestock and these two wild caprins need to be made from local, site-specific studies, rather than from general diet comparisons.

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Bite-Count vs Fecal Analysis for Range Animal Diets

Cited by 46 publications

References 11 publications

Forage availability versus seasonal diets, as determined by fecal analysis, of dorcas gazelles in Morocco

Forage availability versus seasonal diets, as determined by fecal analysis, of dorcas gazelles in Morocco

Foraging behavior of heifers with or without social models in an unfamiliar site containing high plant diversity

Summer diets of wild and domestic ungulates in Nepal Himalaya

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