Conversion factors in carnivore scat analysis: sources of bias

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...

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Published in:Wildlife Biology
Main Authors: Ruehe, Ferdinand, Ksinsik, Michael, Kiffner, Christian
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: Wildlife Biology 2008
Subjects:
Online Access:https://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?gro-2/52897
https://doi.org/10.2981/0909-6396-14.4.500
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spelling ftsubgoettingen:oai:publications.goettingen-research-online.de:2/52897 2023-07-30T04:02:51+02:00 Conversion factors in carnivore scat analysis: sources of bias Ruehe, Ferdinand Ksinsik, Michael Kiffner, Christian 2008 https://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?gro-2/52897 https://doi.org/10.2981/0909-6396-14.4.500 unknown Wildlife Biology 0909-6396 https://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?gro-2/52897 doi:10.2981/0909-6396-14.4.500 000263353700010 journal_article published yes 2008 ftsubgoettingen https://doi.org/10.2981/0909-6396-14.4.500 2023-07-16T22:13:22Z 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 con-specifics are more appropriate. We recommend applying predator-prey specific Us 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 Georg-August-Universität Göttingen: GoeScholar Wildlife Biology 14 4 500 506
institution Open Polar
collection Georg-August-Universität Göttingen: GoeScholar
op_collection_id ftsubgoettingen
language unknown
description 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 con-specifics are more appropriate. We recommend applying predator-prey specific Us 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 Ruehe, Ferdinand
Ksinsik, Michael
Kiffner, Christian
spellingShingle Ruehe, Ferdinand
Ksinsik, Michael
Kiffner, Christian
Conversion factors in carnivore scat analysis: sources of bias
author_facet Ruehe, Ferdinand
Ksinsik, Michael
Kiffner, Christian
author_sort Ruehe, 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 Wildlife Biology
publishDate 2008
url https://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?gro-2/52897
https://doi.org/10.2981/0909-6396-14.4.500
genre Canis lupus
Lynx
Lynx lynx lynx
genre_facet Canis lupus
Lynx
Lynx lynx lynx
op_relation 0909-6396
https://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?gro-2/52897
doi:10.2981/0909-6396-14.4.500
000263353700010
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
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