Use of aquatic plants by moose: sodium hunger or foraging efficiency?
Use of submergent aquatic plants by North American moose (Alces alces) has been linked to sodium hunger. Habitat preferences, seasonal diets, forage abundance and quality, and population surveys indicated that emergent plants in small shallow ponds were important to moose on the Copper River Delta,...
Published in: | Canadian Journal of Zoology |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Canadian Science Publishing
1993
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z93-329 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z93-329 |
id |
crcansciencepubl:10.1139/z93-329 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crcansciencepubl:10.1139/z93-329 2024-09-30T14:22:02+00:00 Use of aquatic plants by moose: sodium hunger or foraging efficiency? MacCracken, James G. Ballenberghe, Victor Van Peek, James M. 1993 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z93-329 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z93-329 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 71, issue 12, page 2345-2351 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 journal-article 1993 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/z93-329 2024-09-12T04:13:26Z Use of submergent aquatic plants by North American moose (Alces alces) has been linked to sodium hunger. Habitat preferences, seasonal diets, forage abundance and quality, and population surveys indicated that emergent plants in small shallow ponds were important to moose on the Copper River Delta, Alaska. However, sodium was abundant in terrestrial browse. We propose that foraging in aquatic habitats, particularly on emergent species, may be highly efficient based on the following habitat attributes and behavioral observations: (i) ponds dominated by either emergent or submergent species produced about 4 times more forage than terrestrial habitats, (ii) emergent and submergent plants were more digestible and had higher concentrations of minerals than browse, (iii) use of aquatic habitats followed trends in forage production over the growing season, (iv) indirect evidence suggested that forage intake rates were greater in aquatic habitats, and (v) use of aquatic habitats by male and female moose was in proportion to the sex structure of the population. These data provide consistent circumstantial evidence that use of emergent species, and possibly submergents, may maximize the intake of nutrients and also reduce conflicts between cropping forage and vigilance during a foraging bout. Article in Journal/Newspaper Alces alces Alaska Canadian Science Publishing Canadian Journal of Zoology 71 12 2345 2351 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Canadian Science Publishing |
op_collection_id |
crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
description |
Use of submergent aquatic plants by North American moose (Alces alces) has been linked to sodium hunger. Habitat preferences, seasonal diets, forage abundance and quality, and population surveys indicated that emergent plants in small shallow ponds were important to moose on the Copper River Delta, Alaska. However, sodium was abundant in terrestrial browse. We propose that foraging in aquatic habitats, particularly on emergent species, may be highly efficient based on the following habitat attributes and behavioral observations: (i) ponds dominated by either emergent or submergent species produced about 4 times more forage than terrestrial habitats, (ii) emergent and submergent plants were more digestible and had higher concentrations of minerals than browse, (iii) use of aquatic habitats followed trends in forage production over the growing season, (iv) indirect evidence suggested that forage intake rates were greater in aquatic habitats, and (v) use of aquatic habitats by male and female moose was in proportion to the sex structure of the population. These data provide consistent circumstantial evidence that use of emergent species, and possibly submergents, may maximize the intake of nutrients and also reduce conflicts between cropping forage and vigilance during a foraging bout. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
MacCracken, James G. Ballenberghe, Victor Van Peek, James M. |
spellingShingle |
MacCracken, James G. Ballenberghe, Victor Van Peek, James M. Use of aquatic plants by moose: sodium hunger or foraging efficiency? |
author_facet |
MacCracken, James G. Ballenberghe, Victor Van Peek, James M. |
author_sort |
MacCracken, James G. |
title |
Use of aquatic plants by moose: sodium hunger or foraging efficiency? |
title_short |
Use of aquatic plants by moose: sodium hunger or foraging efficiency? |
title_full |
Use of aquatic plants by moose: sodium hunger or foraging efficiency? |
title_fullStr |
Use of aquatic plants by moose: sodium hunger or foraging efficiency? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Use of aquatic plants by moose: sodium hunger or foraging efficiency? |
title_sort |
use of aquatic plants by moose: sodium hunger or foraging efficiency? |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
1993 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z93-329 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z93-329 |
genre |
Alces alces Alaska |
genre_facet |
Alces alces Alaska |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 71, issue 12, page 2345-2351 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/z93-329 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
71 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
2345 |
op_container_end_page |
2351 |
_version_ |
1811646845134307328 |