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

Verheyden-Tixier, Hélène; Renaud, Pierre‐Cyril; Morellet, Nicolas; Jamot, Jacqueline; Besle, J.M.; Dumont, Bertrand

doi:10.1007/s00442-008-1020-3

Cited by 55 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Ideally, studies of selectivity should be coupled with chemical analyses (see, e.g., Verheyden-Tixier et al 2008). Although we did not analyze the chemical composition of moose forage plants in this study, it has previously been investigated in regard to, e.g., digestibility.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moose summer and winter diets along a large scale gradient of forage availability in southern Norway

Wam

Hjeljord

2010

Eur J Wildl Res

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Studies on dietary functional responses in large herbivores are traditionally conducted by following individual animals. The method is very time-consuming, and hence, typically provides only a narrow array of forage species compositions. Here we use a range level approach to look at moose (Alces alces) selectivity for and utilization of forage species in relation to availability in both summer and winter. We compare 12 Norwegian ranges representing a large scale gradient in plant communities. The most important forage species in the diet were birches (Betula spp., comprising 43% of all trees browsed in summer and 27% in winter), rowan (Sorbus aucuparia, 25% of trees browsed in summer, 37% in winter), and bilberry (Vaccinum myrtillus, 42% of herbaceous epidermal fragments in summer feces). Selectivity for birches was positively related to its availability and negatively related to availability of rowan, Salix spp., and aspen (Populus tremula) together (all more selected for than birches). Multiple regression models including availability of several forage species were thus superior to single-species models in explaining the diet content of main forage plants. Selectivity for birches was also stronger in summer than in winter, while the opposite pattern was found for rowan. The finding is relevant for our evaluation of the quality of summer and winter ranges, and hence, their relative influence on population productivity. Our study underlines the need to incorporate species composition of available forage when quantifying dietary functional responses in selective herbivores such as moose. Furthermore, care should be taken when extrapolating data on moose diet across ranges or seasons.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moose summer and winter diets along a large scale gradient of forage availability in southern Norway

Wam

Hjeljord

2010

Eur J Wildl Res

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“…The latter may result from lower autumn-winter food diversity in the environment with longer and harder winters (Poland). A change in diet can be caused not only by lack of access to certain food types in given seasons, but also to a change in the nutritive properties of the same plants over different seasons [41]. Both of these factors can cause the overlap of food-niches between cervids to be higher in winter than in other seasons [48,62].…”

Section: Foodmentioning

confidence: 99%

Autumn-winter diet overlap of fallow, red, and roe deer in forest ecosystems, Southern Poland

et al. 2013

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The wild population of fallow deer in Central Europe has grown considerably over the last decade. However, information on feeding habits of this alien species in relation to the indigenous red deer or roe deer, in areas of their co-occurrence, is scarce. A prevailing view maintains that their food-niches are distinct, although direct comparative studies have not been carried out. Therefore, the aim of the research was to compare the diets of fallow, red, and roe deer feeding in the same habitat. Research was based on the rumen contents of 242 animals hunted in the autumn-winter season in the forests of Southern Poland. The analyses demonstrated that fallow deer are moderate grazers in such conditions and eat more graminoids in comparison to red or roe deer (36.4% vs. 16.1% or 5.5%, respectively). On the other hand, it feeds on less browse (17.2% vs. 41.4%) or dwarf shrubs (8.4% vs. 19.0%) than red deer, and on less bramble (10.9% vs. 34.6%) or forbs (4.0% vs. 7.6%) in comparison to roe deer (P=0.05). Although the diets of the three deer species differ in terms of the proportion of each food type in their diet, overlapping of their food-niches is high (52.6%).

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“…Nitrogen intake has also been shown to positively aVect digestion and mass dynamics in several other ruminants consuming low-quality grass and browse (Arthun et al 1992b;Ngugi et al 1995;Bohnert et al 2002;Currier et al 2004;Schauer et al 2005), and increased nitrogen was correlated with reduced mass loss in elk (Table 1). However, nitrogen levels were only indirectly controlled in the original studies, and nitrogen content is often correlated with other measures of diet quality, such as digestibility, energy content and Wber fractions, all of which could aVect mass dynamics (McCorquodale 1993;Verheyden-Tixier et al 2008). Ideally, we would have also compiled these important descriptors of dietary nutrition (see Van Soest 1982, p 108).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Effects of grass and browse consumption on the winter mass dynamics of elk

Christianson

Creel

2008

Oecologia

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Much of the research into herbivore ecology and evolution has focused on patterns and mechanisms of niche partitioning in the diets of specialized grazers and browsers, but the significance of the balance of grazing and browsing within intermediate feeders present unique questions that have received less attention. We explored the nutritional effects of varying the balance of grass and browse in the winter diets of elk (Cervus elaphus). We compiled published data from three similar studies that monitored the mass dynamics of captive elk fed diets of pure grass, pure browse or 1 of 14 mixed diets in winter feeding trials. Elk lost mass (up to 22% of initial body weight) in 29 of 33 feeding trials, similar to wild elk in winter. We used regression models of mass dynamics, considering the linear, quadratic or logarithmic effects of the proportion of the diet that was grass ( approximately 1 - proportion of the diet that was browse) and the additive and interactive effects of nitrogen intake. Diet composition had strong effects on mass dynamics, and all models explained > or =73% of the variation (adjusted r (2)) in mass dynamics. Nitrogen intake had uniformly positive effects on mass balance, and increasing grass intake caused improved maintenance of body mass up to a point, but further increases in the proportion of grass in the diet had neutral or negative effects on body mass. Overall, the data suggest that elk are adapted to consuming mixed diets. Nonetheless, data on the foraging behavior and diet selection of wild elk in many populations show that elk often consume grass-dominated diets and sometimes consume browse-dominated diets, but rarely consume mixed diets. Physiological adaptations to mixed diets may place unique spatio-temporal constraints on diet selection in intermediate feeders and impose large penalties for a sub-optimal balance of grazing and browsing.

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

Cited by 55 publications

References 46 publications

Moose summer and winter diets along a large scale gradient of forage availability in southern Norway

Moose summer and winter diets along a large scale gradient of forage availability in southern Norway

Autumn-winter diet overlap of fallow, red, and roe deer in forest ecosystems, Southern Poland

Effects of grass and browse consumption on the winter mass dynamics of elk

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