How energy and coavailable foods affect forage selection by the western grey kangaroo

Parsons, Michael H.; Lamont, Byron B.; Davies, Stephen; Kovacs, Benjamin R.

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2005.05.020

Cited by 9 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Preferences positively related to soluble sugar concentrations have also been found in another cervid, the roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in summer and autumn (Tixier et al 1997). Soluble sugars have been shown to be preferred in other herbivores too (grey kangaroo Macropus fuliginosus: Parsons et al 2006;pigtail macaque Macaca nemestrina: Laska 2001).…”

Section: Quality Of the Available Vegetationmentioning

confidence: 98%

Selection for nutrients by red deer hinds feeding on a mixed forest edge

et al. 2008

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We studied the nutritional behaviour of hinds foraging on a mixed-forest edge by direct observation of their choices at each season and by measuring nutrient concentration in the plants. We compared nutrient concentrations in the observed diets with those in the total available vegetation, and with those of 1,000 randomly simulated diets in which we included only those plants that were actually eaten by the animal. Whether the available or the consumed feeds were used as the basis for comparisons had important consequences due to the presence of conifers and ferns, which were high in soluble sugars but were never eaten by the animals (potentially due to their toxicity). The selected diets were lower in sugars than the total available vegetation in summer, but were actually higher in sugars than the random diets generated from consumed forage species only. Hind diets contained more soluble sugars but not more protein than simulated diets in all seasons. Contrary to our prediction, anti-nutritional compounds (ADL and tannins) were avoided only in winter. Compared to simulated diets, hinds consumed more tannins in spring and summer and more ADL in summer and autumn. We suggest that this was a consequence of selection for soluble sugars, because the preferred plant species, which had high soluble sugar concentrations, also contained a large proportion of the anti-nutritional compounds eaten. In winter, the grass-dominated diets contained more fibre (NDF) and less ADL than the simulated diets, indicating that hinds orient their feeding towards digestible fibres. The switch from a browser to a grazer diet was related to a change in the availability of the nutrients, mainly soluble sugars. In our study, grasses contained more soluble sugars and proteins than deciduous browse during winter. This calls into question the dichotomy usually assumed in the literature between grass and browse in terms of nutrient content.

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Section: Quality Of the Available Vegetationmentioning

confidence: 98%

Selection for nutrients by red deer hinds feeding on a mixed forest edge

et al. 2008

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“…There was only one clear difference in foraging patterns across social classes, Transient males did not engage in grazing. Grazing is the most energy efficient of the foraging types (Parsons et al, 2006), however it requires the animal to select, and potentially, defend a preferred food path. As a more mobile group, often intruding, followed by retreats, Transients were unlikely to be observed for very long selecting food from the same patch in a Territorial male's area.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our objectives were firstly, to produce the first activity budgets for Equus kiang based on 18 prominent behaviors from a well-known ethogram of equid male behaviors (McDonnell & Haviland, 1995) and three additional feeding behaviors (Parsons, Lamont, Davies, & Kovacs, 2006). Our secondary aim was to determine whether, using an ethogram, we could predict differences in the behavior of this species based on social class, and lastly to consider the impacts of group size for influencing other behaviors, most prominently vigilance.…”

Section: Objectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because there are no known ethograms, activity budgets, or behavioral assays for this species, and because we had high definition videos that could be repeatedly rescored, we elected to record states by four measures: the number of times each behavior was recorded (discrete events), total duration of all discrete events, the mean duration of each behavior, and the percentage of the behavior across the focal period. We selected 18 prominent behaviors from the equid literature (McDonnell & Haviland, 1995;see Table 2 for descriptions; Figure 1 for illustrations) along with three foraging behaviors (Parsons et al, 2006). Animals spend much of their time procuring resources, and how they go about selecting foods is seminal to understanding the species.…”

Section: Behaviors States and Eventsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Social Class and Group Size as Predictors of Behavior in Male Equus kiang

Kannan¹,

Parsons²

2017

ABC

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“…Yet the avoidance of harmful chemicals may be just as important in determining which foods are chosen; for both white tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus; Schindler et al, 2003) and western grey kangaroos (Parsons et al, 2006). Consumption of plant secondary compounds may disrupt the acid-base balance, cause loss of protein and sodium, or interfere with nutrient utilization (Villalba et al, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%