Assessing the nutritional consequences of switching foraging behavior in wood bison
Abstract Diet is one of the most common traits used to organize species of animals into niches. For ruminant herbivores, the breadth and uniqueness of their dietary niche are placed on a spectrum from browsers that consume woody (i.e., browse) and herbaceous (i.e., forbs) plants, to grazers with gra...
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crwiley:10.1002/ece3.8298 2024-09-15T17:59:56+00:00 Assessing the nutritional consequences of switching foraging behavior in wood bison Hecker, Lee J. Edwards, Mark A. Nielsen, Scott E. 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8298 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ece3.8298 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ece3.8298 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ecology and Evolution volume 11, issue 22, page 16165-16176 ISSN 2045-7758 2045-7758 journal-article 2021 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8298 2024-08-30T04:11:28Z Abstract Diet is one of the most common traits used to organize species of animals into niches. For ruminant herbivores, the breadth and uniqueness of their dietary niche are placed on a spectrum from browsers that consume woody (i.e., browse) and herbaceous (i.e., forbs) plants, to grazers with graminoid‐rich diets. However, seasonal changes in plant availability and quality can lead to switching of their dietary niche, even within species. In this study, we examined whether a population of wood bison ( Bison bison athabascae ) in northeast Alberta, Canada, seasonally switched their foraging behavior, and if so, whether this was associated with changes in nutrient acquisition. We hypothesized that bison should switch foraging behaviors from grazing in the winter when standing, dead graminoids are the only foliar plants readily available to browsing during spring and summer as nutritious and digestible foliar parts of browse and forbs become available. If bison are switching foraging strategy to maximize protein consumption, then there should be a corresponding shift in the nutritional niche. Alternatively, if bison are eating different plants, but consuming similar amounts of nutrients, then bison are switching their dietary niche to maintain a particular nutrient composition. We found wood bison were grazers in the winter and spring, but switch to a browsing during summer. However, only winter nutrient consumption of consumed plants differed significantly among seasons. Between spring and summer, bison maintained a specific nutritional composition in their diet despite compositional differences in the consumed plants. Our evidence suggests that bison are selecting plants to maintain a target macronutrient composition. We posit that herbivore's can and will switch their dietary niche to maintain a target nutrient composition. Article in Journal/Newspaper Bison bison athabascae Wood Bison Bison bison bison Wiley Online Library Ecology and Evolution 11 22 16165 16176 |
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English |
description |
Abstract Diet is one of the most common traits used to organize species of animals into niches. For ruminant herbivores, the breadth and uniqueness of their dietary niche are placed on a spectrum from browsers that consume woody (i.e., browse) and herbaceous (i.e., forbs) plants, to grazers with graminoid‐rich diets. However, seasonal changes in plant availability and quality can lead to switching of their dietary niche, even within species. In this study, we examined whether a population of wood bison ( Bison bison athabascae ) in northeast Alberta, Canada, seasonally switched their foraging behavior, and if so, whether this was associated with changes in nutrient acquisition. We hypothesized that bison should switch foraging behaviors from grazing in the winter when standing, dead graminoids are the only foliar plants readily available to browsing during spring and summer as nutritious and digestible foliar parts of browse and forbs become available. If bison are switching foraging strategy to maximize protein consumption, then there should be a corresponding shift in the nutritional niche. Alternatively, if bison are eating different plants, but consuming similar amounts of nutrients, then bison are switching their dietary niche to maintain a particular nutrient composition. We found wood bison were grazers in the winter and spring, but switch to a browsing during summer. However, only winter nutrient consumption of consumed plants differed significantly among seasons. Between spring and summer, bison maintained a specific nutritional composition in their diet despite compositional differences in the consumed plants. Our evidence suggests that bison are selecting plants to maintain a target macronutrient composition. We posit that herbivore's can and will switch their dietary niche to maintain a target nutrient composition. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Hecker, Lee J. Edwards, Mark A. Nielsen, Scott E. |
spellingShingle |
Hecker, Lee J. Edwards, Mark A. Nielsen, Scott E. Assessing the nutritional consequences of switching foraging behavior in wood bison |
author_facet |
Hecker, Lee J. Edwards, Mark A. Nielsen, Scott E. |
author_sort |
Hecker, Lee J. |
title |
Assessing the nutritional consequences of switching foraging behavior in wood bison |
title_short |
Assessing the nutritional consequences of switching foraging behavior in wood bison |
title_full |
Assessing the nutritional consequences of switching foraging behavior in wood bison |
title_fullStr |
Assessing the nutritional consequences of switching foraging behavior in wood bison |
title_full_unstemmed |
Assessing the nutritional consequences of switching foraging behavior in wood bison |
title_sort |
assessing the nutritional consequences of switching foraging behavior in wood bison |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8298 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ece3.8298 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ece3.8298 |
genre |
Bison bison athabascae Wood Bison Bison bison bison |
genre_facet |
Bison bison athabascae Wood Bison Bison bison bison |
op_source |
Ecology and Evolution volume 11, issue 22, page 16165-16176 ISSN 2045-7758 2045-7758 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8298 |
container_title |
Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
22 |
container_start_page |
16165 |
op_container_end_page |
16176 |
_version_ |
1810437046836133888 |