Feeding patch selection by herbivorous Anatidae: the influence of body size, and of plant quantity and quality
9 pages International audience Recent findings suggest that herbivores select feeding sites of intermediate biomass in order to maximise their digestible nutrient intake as the result of the trade-off between forage quality and quantity (‘forage maturation hypothesis'). We propose a reformulati...
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ftccsdartic:oai:HAL:hal-00186865v1 2024-02-27T08:39:09+00:00 Feeding patch selection by herbivorous Anatidae: the influence of body size, and of plant quantity and quality Durant, Daphné Fritz, Hervé Duncan, Patrick Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC) Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) 2004-01 https://hal.science/hal-00186865 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0908-8857.2004.03166.x en eng HAL CCSD Wiley info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1111/j.0908-8857.2004.03166.x hal-00186865 https://hal.science/hal-00186865 doi:10.1111/j.0908-8857.2004.03166.x ISSN: 0908-8857 EISSN: 1600-048X Journal of Avian Biology https://hal.science/hal-00186865 Journal of Avian Biology, 2004, 35, pp.144-152. ⟨10.1111/j.0908-8857.2004.03166.x⟩ [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology [SDE.ES]Environmental Sciences/Environment and Society [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2004 ftccsdartic https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0908-8857.2004.03166.x 2024-01-28T03:19:15Z 9 pages International audience Recent findings suggest that herbivores select feeding sites of intermediate biomass in order to maximise their digestible nutrient intake as the result of the trade-off between forage quality and quantity (‘forage maturation hypothesis'). We propose a reformulation of this hypothesis which recognises this trade-off, but also underlines that constraints due to body mass (i.e. metabolism and digestive constraints, size of the feeding apparatus) can lead to variations in grazing patterns. We tested this latter hypothesis experimentally in three species of herbivorous Anatidae of different body mass: the wigeon Anas penelope (in our study c. 620 g), the barnacle goose Branta leucopsis (c. 2000 g), and the greylag goose Anser anser (c. 3500 g). Each species was tested separately from 0600 to 0930 hours, in an enclosure with a mosaic of patches of grass of three different heights: short, medium and tall. The behaviour, and the location (i.e. patch) of each individual were recorded every 5 minutes. Our results show important interspecific differences in intake rates resulting in different feeding site selection: wigeon and barnacle goose fed fastest on the shortest swards, and selected short grass which was also of higher quality. Tall grass provided the highest dry matter intake rate and digestible protein intake for greylag geese, and they preferred these swards. These choices allowed the birds to maximise their digestible nitrogen intake rate rather than dry matter intake rate and our results thus underline the importance of nitrogen as a major currency for foraging decisions in herbivorous Anatidae. Since the birds selected the two extreme sward heights (instead of the medium one), the results give support to our hypothesis and underline the role of body size as an important cause of variations in patch selection in herbivorous Anatidae. Article in Journal/Newspaper Barnacle goose Branta leucopsis Archive ouverte HAL (Hyper Article en Ligne, CCSD - Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) Journal of Avian Biology 35 2 144 152 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Archive ouverte HAL (Hyper Article en Ligne, CCSD - Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) |
op_collection_id |
ftccsdartic |
language |
English |
topic |
[SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology [SDE.ES]Environmental Sciences/Environment and Society [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes |
spellingShingle |
[SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology [SDE.ES]Environmental Sciences/Environment and Society [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes Durant, Daphné Fritz, Hervé Duncan, Patrick Feeding patch selection by herbivorous Anatidae: the influence of body size, and of plant quantity and quality |
topic_facet |
[SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology [SDE.ES]Environmental Sciences/Environment and Society [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes |
description |
9 pages International audience Recent findings suggest that herbivores select feeding sites of intermediate biomass in order to maximise their digestible nutrient intake as the result of the trade-off between forage quality and quantity (‘forage maturation hypothesis'). We propose a reformulation of this hypothesis which recognises this trade-off, but also underlines that constraints due to body mass (i.e. metabolism and digestive constraints, size of the feeding apparatus) can lead to variations in grazing patterns. We tested this latter hypothesis experimentally in three species of herbivorous Anatidae of different body mass: the wigeon Anas penelope (in our study c. 620 g), the barnacle goose Branta leucopsis (c. 2000 g), and the greylag goose Anser anser (c. 3500 g). Each species was tested separately from 0600 to 0930 hours, in an enclosure with a mosaic of patches of grass of three different heights: short, medium and tall. The behaviour, and the location (i.e. patch) of each individual were recorded every 5 minutes. Our results show important interspecific differences in intake rates resulting in different feeding site selection: wigeon and barnacle goose fed fastest on the shortest swards, and selected short grass which was also of higher quality. Tall grass provided the highest dry matter intake rate and digestible protein intake for greylag geese, and they preferred these swards. These choices allowed the birds to maximise their digestible nitrogen intake rate rather than dry matter intake rate and our results thus underline the importance of nitrogen as a major currency for foraging decisions in herbivorous Anatidae. Since the birds selected the two extreme sward heights (instead of the medium one), the results give support to our hypothesis and underline the role of body size as an important cause of variations in patch selection in herbivorous Anatidae. |
author2 |
Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC) Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Durant, Daphné Fritz, Hervé Duncan, Patrick |
author_facet |
Durant, Daphné Fritz, Hervé Duncan, Patrick |
author_sort |
Durant, Daphné |
title |
Feeding patch selection by herbivorous Anatidae: the influence of body size, and of plant quantity and quality |
title_short |
Feeding patch selection by herbivorous Anatidae: the influence of body size, and of plant quantity and quality |
title_full |
Feeding patch selection by herbivorous Anatidae: the influence of body size, and of plant quantity and quality |
title_fullStr |
Feeding patch selection by herbivorous Anatidae: the influence of body size, and of plant quantity and quality |
title_full_unstemmed |
Feeding patch selection by herbivorous Anatidae: the influence of body size, and of plant quantity and quality |
title_sort |
feeding patch selection by herbivorous anatidae: the influence of body size, and of plant quantity and quality |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2004 |
url |
https://hal.science/hal-00186865 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0908-8857.2004.03166.x |
genre |
Barnacle goose Branta leucopsis |
genre_facet |
Barnacle goose Branta leucopsis |
op_source |
ISSN: 0908-8857 EISSN: 1600-048X Journal of Avian Biology https://hal.science/hal-00186865 Journal of Avian Biology, 2004, 35, pp.144-152. ⟨10.1111/j.0908-8857.2004.03166.x⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1111/j.0908-8857.2004.03166.x hal-00186865 https://hal.science/hal-00186865 doi:10.1111/j.0908-8857.2004.03166.x |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0908-8857.2004.03166.x |
container_title |
Journal of Avian Biology |
container_volume |
35 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
144 |
op_container_end_page |
152 |
_version_ |
1792046140952150016 |