ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Abstract Intake rate, the rate in which herbivores can process their food, is presumed to be an important factor in habitat selection down to the scale of the foraging patch. Much attention has been given to the selection of swards of high nutritional quality, but much less has been given to the inf...
Main Authors: | , , |
---|---|
Other Authors: | |
Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.584.9654 http://www.landeco.uni-oldenburg.de/download/Staff_Stahl/JOrnith2006_swardheight.pdf |
id |
ftciteseerx:oai:CiteSeerX.psu:10.1.1.584.9654 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftciteseerx:oai:CiteSeerX.psu:10.1.1.584.9654 2023-05-15T15:46:27+02:00 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Alexandra J. Graaf Æ Pieter Coehoorn Æ Julia Stahl The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives application/pdf http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.584.9654 http://www.landeco.uni-oldenburg.de/download/Staff_Stahl/JOrnith2006_swardheight.pdf en eng http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.584.9654 http://www.landeco.uni-oldenburg.de/download/Staff_Stahl/JOrnith2006_swardheight.pdf Metadata may be used without restrictions as long as the oai identifier remains attached to it. http://www.landeco.uni-oldenburg.de/download/Staff_Stahl/JOrnith2006_swardheight.pdf text ftciteseerx 2016-01-08T13:12:59Z Abstract Intake rate, the rate in which herbivores can process their food, is presumed to be an important factor in habitat selection down to the scale of the foraging patch. Much attention has been given to the selection of swards of high nutritional quality, but much less has been given to the influences of sward structure on patch selection in small herbivores. In this study we tested the effects of sward density and height on the functional foraging response of barnacle geese, Branta leucopsis. The functional response curve for herbivores describes how intake rate is affected by food availability. We conducted feeding trials to determine intake rate and bite size of barnacle geese on experimentally manipu-lated swards. Results indicate that intake rate is mainly dependent on sward height and that there is a strong correlation between bite size and intake rate. Sward density does not influence the rate of food consumption; it is, however, a crucial parameter affecting potential total yield. We conclude that bite size is the crucial parameter influencing intake rate. Bite size is explained both by sward height and individual differences in bill morphology. Furthermore, intake rate seems to be dependent on the physical structure of the grass species consumed. Text Branta leucopsis Unknown |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Unknown |
op_collection_id |
ftciteseerx |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract Intake rate, the rate in which herbivores can process their food, is presumed to be an important factor in habitat selection down to the scale of the foraging patch. Much attention has been given to the selection of swards of high nutritional quality, but much less has been given to the influences of sward structure on patch selection in small herbivores. In this study we tested the effects of sward density and height on the functional foraging response of barnacle geese, Branta leucopsis. The functional response curve for herbivores describes how intake rate is affected by food availability. We conducted feeding trials to determine intake rate and bite size of barnacle geese on experimentally manipu-lated swards. Results indicate that intake rate is mainly dependent on sward height and that there is a strong correlation between bite size and intake rate. Sward density does not influence the rate of food consumption; it is, however, a crucial parameter affecting potential total yield. We conclude that bite size is the crucial parameter influencing intake rate. Bite size is explained both by sward height and individual differences in bill morphology. Furthermore, intake rate seems to be dependent on the physical structure of the grass species consumed. |
author2 |
The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives |
format |
Text |
author |
Alexandra J. Graaf Æ Pieter Coehoorn Æ Julia Stahl |
spellingShingle |
Alexandra J. Graaf Æ Pieter Coehoorn Æ Julia Stahl ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
author_facet |
Alexandra J. Graaf Æ Pieter Coehoorn Æ Julia Stahl |
author_sort |
Alexandra J. Graaf |
title |
ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
title_short |
ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
title_full |
ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
title_fullStr |
ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
title_full_unstemmed |
ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
title_sort |
original article |
url |
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.584.9654 http://www.landeco.uni-oldenburg.de/download/Staff_Stahl/JOrnith2006_swardheight.pdf |
genre |
Branta leucopsis |
genre_facet |
Branta leucopsis |
op_source |
http://www.landeco.uni-oldenburg.de/download/Staff_Stahl/JOrnith2006_swardheight.pdf |
op_relation |
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.584.9654 http://www.landeco.uni-oldenburg.de/download/Staff_Stahl/JOrnith2006_swardheight.pdf |
op_rights |
Metadata may be used without restrictions as long as the oai identifier remains attached to it. |
_version_ |
1766381145137610752 |