Macronutrient balancing in free‐ranging populations of moose
Abstract At northern latitudes, large spatial and temporal variation in the nutritional composition of available foods poses challenges to wild herbivores trying to satisfy their nutrient requirements. Studies conducted in mostly captive settings have shown that animals from a variety of taxonomic g...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:1d17be85cec04256895e7528338558a2 2023-05-15T13:13:01+02:00 Macronutrient balancing in free‐ranging populations of moose Annika M. Felton Hilde K. Wam Adam Felton Stephen J. Simpson Caroline Stolter Per‐Ola Hedwall Jonas Malmsten Torsten Eriksson Mulualem Tigabo David Raubenheimer 2021-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7909 https://doaj.org/article/1d17be85cec04256895e7528338558a2 EN eng Wiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7909 https://doaj.org/toc/2045-7758 2045-7758 doi:10.1002/ece3.7909 https://doaj.org/article/1d17be85cec04256895e7528338558a2 Ecology and Evolution, Vol 11, Iss 16, Pp 11223-11240 (2021) Alces alces deer herbivory nutritional ecology primate ungulate Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7909 2022-12-31T13:19:11Z Abstract At northern latitudes, large spatial and temporal variation in the nutritional composition of available foods poses challenges to wild herbivores trying to satisfy their nutrient requirements. Studies conducted in mostly captive settings have shown that animals from a variety of taxonomic groups deal with this challenge by adjusting the amounts and proportions of available food combinations to achieve a target nutrient balance. In this study, we used proportions‐based nutritional geometry to analyze the nutritional composition of rumen samples collected in winter from 481 moose (Alces alces) in southern Sweden and examine whether free‐ranging moose show comparable patterns of nutrient balancing. Our main hypothesis was that wild moose actively regulate their rumen nutrient composition to offset ecologically imposed variation in the nutritional composition of available foods. To test this, we assessed the macronutritional composition (protein, carbohydrates, and lipids) of rumen contents and commonly eaten foods, including supplementary feed, across populations with contrasting winter diets, spanning an area of approximately 10,000 km2. Our results suggest that moose balanced the macronutrient composition of their rumen, with the rumen contents having consistently similar proportional relationship between protein and nonstructural carbohydrates, despite differences in available (and eaten) foods. Furthermore, we found that rumen macronutrient balance was tightly related to ingested levels of dietary fiber (cellulose and hemicellulose), such that the greater the fiber content, the less protein was present in the rumen compared with nonstructural carbohydrates. Our results also suggest that moose benefit from access to a greater variety of trees, shrubs, herbs, and grasses, which provides them with a larger nutritional space to maneuver within. Our findings provide novel theoretical insights into a model species for ungulate nutritional ecology, while also generating data of direct relevance to wildlife ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Alces alces Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Ecology and Evolution 11 16 11223 11240 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Alces alces deer herbivory nutritional ecology primate ungulate Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
Alces alces deer herbivory nutritional ecology primate ungulate Ecology QH540-549.5 Annika M. Felton Hilde K. Wam Adam Felton Stephen J. Simpson Caroline Stolter Per‐Ola Hedwall Jonas Malmsten Torsten Eriksson Mulualem Tigabo David Raubenheimer Macronutrient balancing in free‐ranging populations of moose |
topic_facet |
Alces alces deer herbivory nutritional ecology primate ungulate Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
Abstract At northern latitudes, large spatial and temporal variation in the nutritional composition of available foods poses challenges to wild herbivores trying to satisfy their nutrient requirements. Studies conducted in mostly captive settings have shown that animals from a variety of taxonomic groups deal with this challenge by adjusting the amounts and proportions of available food combinations to achieve a target nutrient balance. In this study, we used proportions‐based nutritional geometry to analyze the nutritional composition of rumen samples collected in winter from 481 moose (Alces alces) in southern Sweden and examine whether free‐ranging moose show comparable patterns of nutrient balancing. Our main hypothesis was that wild moose actively regulate their rumen nutrient composition to offset ecologically imposed variation in the nutritional composition of available foods. To test this, we assessed the macronutritional composition (protein, carbohydrates, and lipids) of rumen contents and commonly eaten foods, including supplementary feed, across populations with contrasting winter diets, spanning an area of approximately 10,000 km2. Our results suggest that moose balanced the macronutrient composition of their rumen, with the rumen contents having consistently similar proportional relationship between protein and nonstructural carbohydrates, despite differences in available (and eaten) foods. Furthermore, we found that rumen macronutrient balance was tightly related to ingested levels of dietary fiber (cellulose and hemicellulose), such that the greater the fiber content, the less protein was present in the rumen compared with nonstructural carbohydrates. Our results also suggest that moose benefit from access to a greater variety of trees, shrubs, herbs, and grasses, which provides them with a larger nutritional space to maneuver within. Our findings provide novel theoretical insights into a model species for ungulate nutritional ecology, while also generating data of direct relevance to wildlife ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Annika M. Felton Hilde K. Wam Adam Felton Stephen J. Simpson Caroline Stolter Per‐Ola Hedwall Jonas Malmsten Torsten Eriksson Mulualem Tigabo David Raubenheimer |
author_facet |
Annika M. Felton Hilde K. Wam Adam Felton Stephen J. Simpson Caroline Stolter Per‐Ola Hedwall Jonas Malmsten Torsten Eriksson Mulualem Tigabo David Raubenheimer |
author_sort |
Annika M. Felton |
title |
Macronutrient balancing in free‐ranging populations of moose |
title_short |
Macronutrient balancing in free‐ranging populations of moose |
title_full |
Macronutrient balancing in free‐ranging populations of moose |
title_fullStr |
Macronutrient balancing in free‐ranging populations of moose |
title_full_unstemmed |
Macronutrient balancing in free‐ranging populations of moose |
title_sort |
macronutrient balancing in free‐ranging populations of moose |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7909 https://doaj.org/article/1d17be85cec04256895e7528338558a2 |
genre |
Alces alces |
genre_facet |
Alces alces |
op_source |
Ecology and Evolution, Vol 11, Iss 16, Pp 11223-11240 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7909 https://doaj.org/toc/2045-7758 2045-7758 doi:10.1002/ece3.7909 https://doaj.org/article/1d17be85cec04256895e7528338558a2 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7909 |
container_title |
Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
16 |
container_start_page |
11223 |
op_container_end_page |
11240 |
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1766255540600569856 |