Food Selection by the Greater Glider, Petauroides-Volans - Is Foliar Nitrogen a Determinant of Habitat Quality

Kavanagh, R.; Lambert, M. A.

doi:10.1071/wr9900285

Cited by 110 publications

(113 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Previous studies have also found positive relationships between the concentrations of nutrients in soil and foliage and the abundance of marsupial herbivores (Braithwaite et al 1984;Jones et al 1994;Kavanagh and Lambert 1990).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Demography in relation to population density in two herbivorous marsupials: testing for source?sink dynamics versus independent regulation of population size

2004

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We compared demography of populations along gradients of population density in two medium-sized herbivorous marsupials, the common brushtail possum Trichosurus vulpecula and the rufous bettong Aepyprymnus rufescens, to test for net dispersal from high density populations (acting as sources) to low density populations (sinks). In both species, population density was positively related to soil fertility, and variation in soil fertility produced large differences in population density of contiguous populations. We predicted that if source-sink dynamics were operating over this density gradient, we should find higher immigration rates in low-density populations, and positive relationships of measures of individual fitness--body condition, reproductive output, juvenile growth rates and survivorship--to population density. This was predicted because under source-sink dynamics, immigration from high-density sites would hold population density above carrying capacity in low-density sites. The study included 13 populations of these two species, representing a more than 50-fold range of density for each species, but we found that individual fitness, immigration rates and population turnover were similar in all populations. We conclude that net dispersal from high to low density populations had little influence on population dynamics in these species; rather, all populations appeared to be independently regulated at carrying capacity, with a balanced exchange of dispersers among populations. These two species have suffered recent reductions in range, and they are ecologically similar to other species that have declined to extinction in inland Australia. It has been argued that part of the cause of the vulnerability of species like these is that they exhibit source-sink dynamics, and disturbance to source habitats can therefore cause large-scale population collapses. The results of our study argue against this interpretation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Demography in relation to population density in two herbivorous marsupials: testing for source?sink dynamics versus independent regulation of population size

2004

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“…Previous and ongoing studies of the nutritional ecology of folivorous marsupials have argued strongly for the roles of leaf nitrogen, fiber, phenolic constituents and tannins in determining levels of food intake and diet selection (Cork and Pahl 1984;Foley and Hume 1986;Cork and Sanson 1990;Kavanagh and Lambert 1990;Cork 1992;Lawler et al , 2000Pass et al 1998). Food intake is closely linked to chemical composition of the foliage in common ringtail possums irrespective of differences in digestibility of the foliage (Lawler et al , 2000.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Given that there is a complex set of ecological circumstances that can influence the foraging choices of herbivores, one could probably not expect a precise match between foraging behaviour and estimates of nutritional quality. This may be particularly relevant to greater gliders if they are dependent on young leaf growth to meet their nutritional requirements (Kavanagh and Lambert 1990;Comport et al 1996) as variations in leaf production may have a large impact on foraging choices. Nonetheless, both the marked selection of greater gliders for E. acmenoides foliage over other tree species, and the strong avoidance of E. crebra were predicted by our model, suggesting that nutritional quality influences foraging patterns strongly in this species.…”

Section: Potential Intake and Greater Glider Feeding Preferencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coping with chemical complexity in mammal-plant interactions: near-infrared spectroscopy as a predictor of Eucalyptus foliar nutrients and of the feeding rates of folivorous marsupials

et al. 2001

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We investigated the utility of near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) as a means of rapidly assaying chemical constituents of Eucalyptus leaves and of directly predicting the intake of foliage from individual trees by greater gliders (Petauroides volans) and common ringtail possums (Pseudocheirus peregrinus). The concentrations of total nitrogen, neutral detergent fiber, condensed tannins and total phenolics could be predicted accurately by partial least squares regression models relating the near-infrared reflectance spectra of foliage samples to analyses performed using standard laboratory procedures. Coefficients of determination (r ) for all four constituents ranged between 0.88 and 0.98, and standard errors of prediction between 0.80 mg gdry matter (DM) for total nitrogen and 5.14 quebracho equivalents gDM for condensed tannins. Near-infrared spectral-based models of food intake had r values of 0.90 and 0.95 with a standard error of prediction of 3.4 and 8.3 g DM kg day for greater gliders and common ringtail possums respectively. We used the predictive model of food intake for greater gliders to examine the relationship between leaf palatability and documented food preferences of animals in the wild. Ranked differences in leaf palatability across four Eucalyptus species were consistent with documented food preferences of greater gliders in the wild. We conclude that NIRS provides a powerful tool to predict foraging behaviour of herbivores where forage choices are determined by compositional attributes of food.

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“…Although past studies have linked foliar concentrations of N and tannins to tree species preference and forage consumption (Foley and Hume 1987;Kavanagh and Lambert 1990;McIlwee et al 2001), we do not know how this animal responds to variation in the concentrations of AvailN or FPCs. Although P. volans is argued to be a monocalypt and tannin specialist, like the closely related P. peregrinus (Family Pseudocheiridae) (Moore et al 2004), field studies have indicated that it regularly consumes foliage from eucalypt species of both major subgenera (Kavanagh and Lambert 1990;Cunningham et al 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Foliage Chemistry Influences Tree Choice and Landscape Use of a Gliding Marsupial Folivore

et al. 2010

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The chemical quality of forage may determine landscape use and habitat quality for some herbivorous species. However, studies that investigate the relationship between foliar chemistry and foraging choices in wild vertebrates are rare. Petauroides volans (the greater glider) is unique among Australian marsupial folivores because it glides. It also frequently consumes foliage from both major Eucalyptus subgenera, Eucalyptus (common name "monocalypt") and Symphyomyrtus (common name "symphyomyrtle"), which differ markedly in their foliar chemistry. Such differences are thought to be a product of co-evolution that also led to guild-specific plant secondary metabolite (PSM) specialization among other marsupial eucalypt folivores. To explore whether foliar chemistry influences tree use, we analyzed foliage from eucalypt trees in which we observed P. volans during a radio tracking study and from eucalypt trees in which animals were never observed. We used a combination of chemical assays and near infrared spectrophotometry (NIRS) to determine concentrations of nitrogen (N), in vitro available nitrogen (AvailN), and in vitro digestible dry matter (DDM) from foliage sampled from the monocalypt and symphyomyrtle species, and total formylated phloroglucinol compounds (FPCs) and sideroxylonals (a class of FPCs) from the symphyomyrtle species (FPCs do not occur in monocalypts). Tree size and spatially-dependent, intraspecific variations in sideroxylonals and DDM concentrations in the symphyomyrtle foliage and of N, AvailN, and DDM in the monocalypt species were important indicators of tree use and habitat suitability for P. volans. The results i) demonstrate that guild-specific PSMs do not always lead to guild-specific foraging; ii) provide a compelling co-evolutionary case for the development of gliding in P. volans; and iii) have implications for the management and conservation of this and other folivorous species.

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Food Selection by the Greater Glider, Petauroides-Volans - Is Foliar Nitrogen a Determinant of Habitat Quality

Cited by 110 publications

References 32 publications

Demography in relation to population density in two herbivorous marsupials: testing for source?sink dynamics versus independent regulation of population size

Demography in relation to population density in two herbivorous marsupials: testing for source?sink dynamics versus independent regulation of population size

Coping with chemical complexity in mammal-plant interactions: near-infrared spectroscopy as a predictor of Eucalyptus foliar nutrients and of the feeding rates of folivorous marsupials

Foliage Chemistry Influences Tree Choice and Landscape Use of a Gliding Marsupial Folivore

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