Interspecific Differences in Tannin Intakes of Forest-Dwelling Rodents in the Wild Revealed by a new Method Using Fecal Proline Content

Shimada, Takuya; Nishii, Eriko; Saitoh, Takashi

doi:10.1007/s10886-011-0045-y

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Acclimation, the gradual introduction of low concentrations of a PSM to the diet, has been shown to increase the PSM tolerance of mammals (McLean, Brandon, Boyle, & Wiggins, ; Shimada et al, ). This is especially true for A. speciosus, a forest‐dwelling rodent that experiences intermittent periods of both tannin‐rich and tannin‐free foods (Shimada et al, , ). Our study confirmed the importance of tannin acclimation in this species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In fact, acorn abundance ( Quercus crispula ) has been shown to have a positive effect on annual population growth rates of A. speciosus (Onodera et al, ). The reliance of A. speciosus on acorns over autumn and winter means that their tannin intake increases significantly over these colder months, while little tannin is consumed for the rest of the year (Shimada, Nishii, & Saitoh, , Sato et al, ). This seasonal dietary shift provides an interesting case for investigating the relationship between temperature and tannin intake.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cold temperature improves tannin tolerance in a granivorous rodent

Windley

Shimada

2019

Journal of Animal Ecology

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The foraging ecology of mammalian herbivores is regulated in part by their ability to detoxify plant secondary metabolites (PSM). Ambient temperature has been shown to alter liver function in rodents and the toxicity of some PSMs, but little is known about the physiological and nutritional consequences of consuming PSMs at different ambient temperatures. Furthermore, the effect of ambient temperature on the response of mammals to the most ubiquitous class of PSM, tannins, is unknown. We measured the effect of temperature and tannin intake on liver function, and the subsequent effect on the tannin tolerance of wild Japanese wood mice, Apodemus speciosus. The experiment involved acclimation to one of two ambient temperatures (10°C or 20°C) followed by acclimation to a diet of acorns (6.2% tannin DW). Liver function was measured both before and after acclimation to acorns by measuring the clearance time of a hypnotic agent. Finally, the mice were fed only acorns in a 5‐day feeding experiment to assess their tolerance to tannin in the diet. Acclimation to acorns had a significant effect on liver function, but the direction of this effect was dependent on ambient temperature. Acorn consumption improved the liver function of wood mice at 10°C, but reduced liver function at 20°C, revealing a complex relationship between ambient temperature and tannin intake on liver function. Furthermore, mice with better liver function, indicated by faster clearance of the hypnotic agent, exhibited higher protein digestibility on an acorn‐only diet, indicative of higher tannin tolerance. These results suggest that environmental temperature plays a significant role in the tolerance of A. speciosus to tannins, providing new insight into their seasonal feeding behaviour and winter ecology. We contend that cold‐induced tannin tolerance may help to explain the population dynamics of mammalian herbivores with seasonal changes in the tannin content of their diet, and inform predictions about the response of these animals to a changing climate.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cold temperature improves tannin tolerance in a granivorous rodent

Windley

Shimada

2019

Journal of Animal Ecology

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“…Similarly, the structure of tannins predictably determines their activity in standard assays (Engström et al, 2019; Salminen & Karonen, 2011). Tannins are likely to be encountered more frequently than alkaloids by herbivores in leaves and fruits and so specific countermeasures may have evolved to minimize deleterious effects, such as salivary tannin‐binding proteins (Shimada et al, 2011). Nonetheless, understanding and building on the finding that condensed tannins deter feeding in colobines requires better knowledge of the structure, and concentration of tannins in the diet together with a better knowledge of the diet composition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, the role of tannin‐binding salivary proteins has been studied in a few primates (Espinosa‐Gómez et al, 2018; Mau et al, 2009, 2011) but the functional significance of these countermeasures against dietary tannins remains unknown. Shimada et al (2011) has shown that fecal concentrations of proline (derived from proline‐rich salivary proteins) correlated strongly with dietary tannin intake in wild rodents. Approaches such as these could be applied to collections of excreta from wild primates and matched with longitudinal data on tannin intake in different species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant secondary metabolites and primate food choices: A meta‐analysis and future directions

Windley

Starrs

Stalenberg

et al. 2022

American J Primatol

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The role of plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) in shaping the feeding decisions, habitat suitability, and reproductive success of herbivorous mammals has been a major theme in ecology for decades. Although primatologists were among the first to test these ideas, studies of PSMs in the feeding ecology of non-human primates have lagged in recent years, leading to a recent call for primatologists to reconnect with phytochemists to advance our understanding of the primate nutrition. To further this case, we present a formal meta-analysis of diet choice in response to PSMs based on field studies on wild primates. Our analysis of 155 measurements of primate feeding response to PSMs is drawn from 53 studies across 43 primate species which focussed primarily on the effect of three classes of PSMs tannins, phenolics, and alkaloids. We found a small but significant effect of PSMs on the diet choice of wild primates, which was largely driven by the finding that colobine primates showed a moderate aversion to condensed tannins. Conversely, there was no evidence that PSMs had a significant deterrent effect on food choices of non-colobine primates when all were combined into a single group. Furthermore, within the colobine primates, no other PSMs influenced feeding choices and we found no evidence that foregut anatomy significantly affected food choice with respect to PSMs. We suggest that methodological improvements related to experimental approaches and the adoption of new techniques including metabolomics are needed to advance our understanding of primate diet choice.

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“…Tannins are one of the common phenolics produced as a defensive chemical of plants. Mammalian herbivores adopt physiological countermeasures against dietary tannins, such as producing tannin-binding salivary proteins and degrading tannins by the activity of gut microorganisms [25,26], and acclimation to tannins occurs [31,32]. At present, there is no study of such tannin detoxification in the flying squirrels.…”

Section: Favorite Parts Of a Leaf And Microscale Chemical Distributionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Favorite Parts of a Single Leaf for Giant Flying Squirrels to Eat in Three Species of Food Trees

Ito,

Tamura,

Hayashi

2023

Biology

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To examine the effect of leaf chemical composition on selective herbivory by the Japanese giant flying squirrels (Petaurista leucogenys), we measured and compared the total phenolic, glucose, and water contents of leaves among their main food tree species, deciduous Quercus acutissima, and evergreen Q. sessilifolia and Phonitia serratifolia. Leaves of these three tree species were available in the warm season (April to October), but the flying squirrels mostly preferred the leaves of Q. acutissima, having higher glucose and water contents than those of the other two tree species. In the cold season (November to the next March), the two evergreen tree species were available, and the flying squirrels used both leaves without any apparent influence of the chemical compositions. On the other hand, the favorite parts of a single leaf differed among the three tree species. Flying squirrels dropped the individual leaves after partial consumption. Their feeding marks on the dropped leaves were distinguished into four types: apical, basal, central, and marginal parts of consumption. The basal parts of consumption were most frequent in Q. acutissima leaves in which more water was contained at the basal part, and the central part consumption followed, which may be related to a lower phenolic content and more glucose and water at the leaf center than its margin. In contrast, the apically consumed leaves dominated in Q. sessilifolia, with relatively homogeneous leaf chemical distribution except for more water at the center. In P. serratifolia, leaves consumed at the center were frequent, but those with marginal consumption were also observed, which may be related to its specific chemical distribution with less phenolics and more glucose at the leaf margin. Thus, the chemical distributions within the single leaf differ among tree species, and the flying squirrel’s selectivity of the tree species and the part of each leaf depends partly on the relative compositions of preferable glucose and water and unpreferable phenolics.

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Interspecific Differences in Tannin Intakes of Forest-Dwelling Rodents in the Wild Revealed by a new Method Using Fecal Proline Content

Cited by 8 publications

References 33 publications

Cold temperature improves tannin tolerance in a granivorous rodent

Cold temperature improves tannin tolerance in a granivorous rodent

Plant secondary metabolites and primate food choices: A meta‐analysis and future directions

Favorite Parts of a Single Leaf for Giant Flying Squirrels to Eat in Three Species of Food Trees

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