Diet optimization in a generalist herbivore: The moose

Belovsky, Gary E.

doi:10.1016/0040-5809(78)90007-2

Cited by 548 publications

(336 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Evolution of foraging strategies that optimise nutrient intake (Belovsky, 1978;Stephens and Krebs, 1986) and fixed rules of thumb such as 'eat tall green grass' or 'avoid bitter' have also been proposed as mechanisms underlying diet selection in herbivores (Cassini, 1994). However, the 'sodium model of nutritional wisdom' is not a particularly good exemplar for energy, protein, minerals and vitamins because animals do not instinctively recognise through oduor/taste all of these nutrients, nor do they necessarily recognise all of the various configurations of any particular nutrient (Provenza and Balph, 1990;Provenza and Villalba, 2006).…”

Section: Behavioural Homeostasismentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-medication and homeostatic behaviour in herbivores: learning about the benefits of nature’s pharmacy

Villalba

Provenza

2007

Animal

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Traditional production systems have viewed animals as homogeneous 'machines' whose nutritional and medicinal needs must be provided in a prescribed manner. This view arose from the lack of belief in the wisdom of the body to meet its physiological needs. Is it possible for herbivores to select diets that meet their needs for nutrients and to write their own prescriptions? Our research suggests it is. Herbivores adapt to the variability of the external environment and to their changing internal needs not only by generating homeostatic physiological responses, but also by operating in the external environment. Under this view, food selection is interpreted as the quest for substances in the external environment that provide homeostatic utility to the internal environment. Most natural landscapes are diverse mixes of plant species that are literally nutrition centres and pharmacies with vast arrays of primary (nutrient) and secondary (pharmaceutical) compounds vital in the nutrition and health of plants and herbivores. Plant-derived alkaloids, terpenes, sesquiterpene lactones and phenolics can benefit herbivores by, for instance, combating internal parasites, controlling populations of fungi and bacteria, and enhancing nutrition. Regrettably, the simplification of agricultural systems to accommodate inexpensive, rapid livestock production, coupled with a view of secondary compounds as toxins, has resulted in selecting for a biochemical balance in forages favouring primary (mainly energy) and nearly eliminating secondary compounds. There is a global need to create a more sustainable agriculture, with less dependence on external finite resources, such as fossil fuels and their environmentally detrimental derivatives. Self-medication has the potential to facilitate the design of sustainable grazing systems to improve the quality of land as well as the health and welfare of animals. Understanding foraging as the dynamic quest to achieve homeostasis will lead to implementing management programs where herbivores have access not only to diverse and nutritious foods but also to arrays of medicinal plants.

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Section: Behavioural Homeostasismentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-medication and homeostatic behaviour in herbivores: learning about the benefits of nature’s pharmacy

Villalba

Provenza

2007

Animal

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“…There is, however, a large range of alternative food species ( fig. 2, region V) for which none of the resources is limiting in both food species (Belovsky 1978;Prins and Beekman 1989;Voeten and Prins 1999;Raubenheimer and Simpson 2004;Simpson et al 2004;Ludwig et al 2007). Here the ratio between the resources to ; and IIc, which changes to for one part of the region and for the rest.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most extensions to OFT have involved the constraints animals face while trying to either maximize the intake rate of a resource or minimize the time needed to acquire a specific amount of this resource (Pulliam 1974(Pulliam , 1975Westoby 1974;Belovsky 1978;Owen-Smith and Novellie 1983;Stephens and Krebs 1986;Illius and Gordon 1991;Owen-Smith 1993;Wilmshurst et al 2000;Bergman et al 2001;Fryxell et al 2004). However, animals need to acquire more than one type of resource during foraging; many (macro)nutrients (e.g., proteins or nitrogen and phosphorus) are consumed and needed (Westoby 1974(Westoby , 1978Belovsky 1978;Prins and Beekman 1989;Prins 1996;Forbes 1999;Raubenheimer and Simpson 2004;Simpson et al 2004;Anderson et al 2005;Prins and van Langevelde 2008). The concentrations of these (macro)nutrients differ between and within the different types of food (Voeten and Prins 1999;Simpson et al 2004;Klaassen and Nolet 2008;Prins and van Langevelde 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The concentrations of these (macro)nutrients differ between and within the different types of food (Voeten and Prins 1999;Simpson et al 2004;Klaassen and Nolet 2008;Prins and van Langevelde 2008). Although linear programming studies do take minimal requirements of several nutrients into account (Westoby 1974;Pulliam 1975;Belovsky 1978;Prins and Beekman 1989;Nolet et al 1995;Voeten and Prins 1999), the optimal acquisition of multiple resources has rarely been considered quantitatively thus far (but see Simpson et al 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Optimal Foraging for Multiple Resources in Several Food Species

Hengeveld¹,

Langevelde²,

Groen³

et al. 2009

The American Naturalist

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The concentrations of resources in forage are not perfectly balanced to the needs of an animal, and food species differ in these concentrations. Under many circumstances, animals should thus forage on multiple food species to attain the maximum and most balanced intake of several resources. In this article we present a model to extend optimal foraging theory to incorporate concurrent foraging for multiple resources from several food species. A balancing of resources is achieved by representing the amount of a resource as the time during which it is used. Optimization is considered at two hierarchical levels: the time spent in a patch and the proportion of patches of each food species included in the foraging path. Our model results show that the balancing of resource intake can be achieved at the level of the foraging path, while the maximization of intake can be realized at the nested patch level. The choice for a food species should be dependent on the differences in intake and resource ratios between the food species. Under free choice of food species, the optimal patch residence time is subject not to differences between patches but to the local intake rate.

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“…Livestock maintain fitness by feeding optimally to consume the greatest amount of energy and nutrients (Schoener 1969, 1971, Charnov 1976, Pyke et al 1977, Krebs and Davies 1978, Belovsky 1978, 1981a, 1981b, 1986a, 1986b, Whitman 1980, Hixon 1982, Owen-Smith and Novellie 1982, Black and Kenney 1984, Belovsky and Slade 1986, Horner and Staddon 1987.…”

Section: Grazing Behaviourmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating production functions of timber, forage, and cattle to achieve sustainable resource management.

Bondaroff¹

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Diet optimization in a generalist herbivore: The moose

Cited by 548 publications

References 32 publications

Self-medication and homeostatic behaviour in herbivores: learning about the benefits of nature’s pharmacy

Self-medication and homeostatic behaviour in herbivores: learning about the benefits of nature’s pharmacy

Optimal Foraging for Multiple Resources in Several Food Species

Integrating production functions of timber, forage, and cattle to achieve sustainable resource management.

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