Conversion factors in carnivore scat analysis: sources of bias
Abstract Scat analyses are commonly applied to study feeding ecology of carnivores. Factors developed in feeding trials are often used to convert dry matter mass of scat remainders to fresh matter mass of killed or scavenged prey. In our study, we aimed at: 1) presenting conversion factors (CFs) of...
Published in: | Wildlife Biology |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Wiley
2008
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.2981/0909-6396-14.4.500 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.2981/0909-6396-14.4.500 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.2981/0909-6396-14.4.500 |
id |
crwiley:10.2981/0909-6396-14.4.500 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crwiley:10.2981/0909-6396-14.4.500 2023-12-03T10:20:54+01:00 Conversion factors in carnivore scat analysis: sources of bias Rühe, Ferdinand Ksinsik, Michael Kiffner, Christian 2008 http://dx.doi.org/10.2981/0909-6396-14.4.500 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.2981/0909-6396-14.4.500 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.2981/0909-6396-14.4.500 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Wildlife Biology volume 14, issue 4, page 500-506 ISSN 1903-220X 1903-220X Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law Nature and Landscape Conservation Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics journal-article 2008 crwiley https://doi.org/10.2981/0909-6396-14.4.500 2023-11-09T14:04:57Z Abstract Scat analyses are commonly applied to study feeding ecology of carnivores. Factors developed in feeding trials are often used to convert dry matter mass of scat remainders to fresh matter mass of killed or scavenged prey. In our study, we aimed at: 1) presenting conversion factors (CFs) of roe deer Capreolus capreolus, European hare Lepus europaeus and house mice Mus musculus digested by wolf Canis lupus, Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx and red fox Vulpes vulpes, 2) comparing CFs derived from fox exposed to different feeding levels (fasted vs non‐fasted before each feeding trial), 3) comparing effects of using different mesh sizes in the lab procedure on CFs, 4) comparing effects of applying CFs derived from wolf, lynx and fox to wolf scats, and 5) quantifying biases caused by inappropriate procedures in scat analyses. Feeding level, use of different mesh sizes, and application of predator‐specific CFs affected the estimated number of killed prey individuals. The greatest deviations were found for the feeding level in regard to roe deer and European hare, and for the application of lynx CFs of roe deer and European hare to wolf scats. The strong relationship between prey use and CFs in our study may be used to estimate prey numbers from scats more precisely: in cases of low prey use, we suggest applying CFs derived from non‐fasted carnivores, and in cases of high prey use CFs from fasted conspecifics are more appropriate. We recommend applying predator‐prey specific CFs and using the same mesh size on which these CFs are based. The presented CFs allow recalculation of prey masses and prey numbers from scat analyses, which had been gained by using inappropriate CFs. Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus Lynx Lynx lynx lynx Wiley Online Library (via Crossref) Wildlife Biology 14 4 500 506 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Wiley Online Library (via Crossref) |
op_collection_id |
crwiley |
language |
English |
topic |
Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law Nature and Landscape Conservation Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
spellingShingle |
Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law Nature and Landscape Conservation Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Rühe, Ferdinand Ksinsik, Michael Kiffner, Christian Conversion factors in carnivore scat analysis: sources of bias |
topic_facet |
Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law Nature and Landscape Conservation Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
description |
Abstract Scat analyses are commonly applied to study feeding ecology of carnivores. Factors developed in feeding trials are often used to convert dry matter mass of scat remainders to fresh matter mass of killed or scavenged prey. In our study, we aimed at: 1) presenting conversion factors (CFs) of roe deer Capreolus capreolus, European hare Lepus europaeus and house mice Mus musculus digested by wolf Canis lupus, Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx and red fox Vulpes vulpes, 2) comparing CFs derived from fox exposed to different feeding levels (fasted vs non‐fasted before each feeding trial), 3) comparing effects of using different mesh sizes in the lab procedure on CFs, 4) comparing effects of applying CFs derived from wolf, lynx and fox to wolf scats, and 5) quantifying biases caused by inappropriate procedures in scat analyses. Feeding level, use of different mesh sizes, and application of predator‐specific CFs affected the estimated number of killed prey individuals. The greatest deviations were found for the feeding level in regard to roe deer and European hare, and for the application of lynx CFs of roe deer and European hare to wolf scats. The strong relationship between prey use and CFs in our study may be used to estimate prey numbers from scats more precisely: in cases of low prey use, we suggest applying CFs derived from non‐fasted carnivores, and in cases of high prey use CFs from fasted conspecifics are more appropriate. We recommend applying predator‐prey specific CFs and using the same mesh size on which these CFs are based. The presented CFs allow recalculation of prey masses and prey numbers from scat analyses, which had been gained by using inappropriate CFs. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Rühe, Ferdinand Ksinsik, Michael Kiffner, Christian |
author_facet |
Rühe, Ferdinand Ksinsik, Michael Kiffner, Christian |
author_sort |
Rühe, Ferdinand |
title |
Conversion factors in carnivore scat analysis: sources of bias |
title_short |
Conversion factors in carnivore scat analysis: sources of bias |
title_full |
Conversion factors in carnivore scat analysis: sources of bias |
title_fullStr |
Conversion factors in carnivore scat analysis: sources of bias |
title_full_unstemmed |
Conversion factors in carnivore scat analysis: sources of bias |
title_sort |
conversion factors in carnivore scat analysis: sources of bias |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.2981/0909-6396-14.4.500 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.2981/0909-6396-14.4.500 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.2981/0909-6396-14.4.500 |
genre |
Canis lupus Lynx Lynx lynx lynx |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus Lynx Lynx lynx lynx |
op_source |
Wildlife Biology volume 14, issue 4, page 500-506 ISSN 1903-220X 1903-220X |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.2981/0909-6396-14.4.500 |
container_title |
Wildlife Biology |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
500 |
op_container_end_page |
506 |
_version_ |
1784268412224012288 |