Evaluating indices of nutritional condition for caribou (Rangifer tarandus): which are the most valuable and why?

• Main Authors: Cook, Rachel, Crouse, John A, Cook, John G., Stephenson, Thomas R
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: University of Toronto 2020
• Subjects: Rangifer tarandus; Alaska
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/106656; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjz-2020-0149

Body composition studies are critical for evaluating the accuracy of nutritional condition indices for predicting body components. We evaluated >40 indices of nutritional condition for caribou (Rangifer tarandus (Linnaeus, 1758)) using 29 female caribou captured from three populations in Alaska that ranged in condition from 2.3%–11.2% ingesta-free body fat (IFBF) and six captive female caribou that ranged in condition from 8.1%–26.0% IFBF. Estimates of body fat, protein, and gross energy were regressed against each index of nutritional condition. Generally, indices with linear or slightly curvilinear relations to body fat and those based on multiple fat depots were the most accurate in predicting nutritional condition and the most useful over the full range of nutritional condition. A scaledLIVINDEX (a combination of subcutaneous fat thickness and a condition score), CONINDEX (a combination of kidney fat and marrow fat), and a subset of the Kistner score (pericardium and kidneys only) had the strongest relationship with body fat (r The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author.