Significance of diet type and diet quality for ecological diversity of African ungulates

Journal of Animal Ecology

Volumn 76, Issue 3, 2007, Pages 526-537

  Codron, Daryl ^a,b   Lee Thorp, Julia A ^a,c   Sponheimer, Matt ^d   Codron, Jacqui ^a   De Ruiter, Darryl ^e   Brink, James S ^b,f  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN   (South Africa)

^b NATIONAL MUSEUM   (South Africa)

^c UNIVERSITY OF BRADFORD   (United Kingdom)

^d UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO   (United States)

^e TEXAS A AND M UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^f UNIVERSITY OF THE FREE STATE   (South Africa)

Author keywords

Body mass; Carbon isotopes; Fibre; Hypsodonty; Per cent nitrogen

Indexed keywords

CARBON;

BODY MASS; BODY SIZE; DIET; FOOD INTAKE; FOOD QUALITY; HERBIVORE; MORPHOLOGY; UNGULATE;

ANIMAL; ANIMAL DISEASE; ANIMAL FOOD; ARTICLE; ARTIODACTYLA; CHEMISTRY; DIET; ENVIRONMENT; FECES; MALE; METABOLISM; PHYSIOLOGY; POACEAE; SEASON; SOUTH AFRICA; SPECIES DIFFERENCE; STANDARD; WILD ANIMAL;

ANIMAL FEED; ANIMAL NUTRITION PHYSIOLOGY; ANIMALS; ANIMALS, WILD; ARTIODACTYLA; CARBON ISOTOPES; DIET; ENVIRONMENT; FECES; MALE; POACEAE; SEASONS; SOUTH AFRICA; SPECIES SPECIFICITY;

AFRICA; KRUGER NATIONAL PARK; SOUTH AFRICA; SOUTHERN AFRICA; SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA;

UNGULATA;

EID: 34247278813     PISSN: 00218790     EISSN: 13652656     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2656.2007.01222.x     Document Type: Article

References (51)

1. Akaike, H. (1983) Information measures and model selection. Bulletin of the International Statistical Institute, Proceedings of the 44th Session, 1, 277-290.
2. Bell, R.H.V. (1970) The use of the herb layer by grazing ungulates in the Serengeti. Animal Populations in Relation to Their Food Resources (ed. A. Watson), pp. 111-123. Blackwell Scientific, Oxford.
3. Bodenstein, V., Meissner, H.H. & van Hoven, W. (2000) Food selection by Burchell's zebra and blue wildebeest in the Timbavati area of the Northern Province Lowveld. South African Journal of Wildlife Research, 30, 63-72.
4. Brink, J.S. & Lee-Thorp, J.A. (1992) The feeding niche of an extinct springbok, Antidorcas bondi (Antelopini, Bovidae) and its palaeoenvironmental meaning. South African Journal of Science, 88, 227-229.
5. Burnham, K.P. & Anderson, D.R. (2001) Kullback-Leibler information as a basis for strong inference in ecological studies. Wildlife Research, 28, 111-119.
6. Burnham, K.P. & Anderson, D.R. (2002) Model Selection and Multimodel Inference: a Practical Information-Theoretic Approach. Springer-Verlag, New York.
7. Cerling, T.E. & Harris, J.M. (1999) Carbon isotope fractionation between diet and bioapatite in ungulate mammals and implications for ecological and paleoecological studies. Oecologia, 120, 347-363.
8. Cerling, T.E., Harris, J.M. & Leakey, M.G. (1999) Browsing and grazing in elephants: the isotope record of modern and fossil proboscideans. Oecologia, 120, 364-374.
9. Cerling, T.E., Harris, J.M. & Passey, H. (2003) Diets of East African Bovidae based on stable isotope analysis. Journal of Mammalogy, 84, 456-470.
10. Clauss, M. & Lechner-Doll, M. (2001) Differences in selective reticulo-ruminal particle retention as a key factor in ruminant diversification. Oecologia, 129, 321-327.
11. Clauss, M., Lechner-Doll, M. & Streich, W. (2002) Faecal particle size distribution in captive and wild ruminants: an approach to the browser/grazer dichotomy from the other end. Oecologia, 131, 343-349.
12. Clauss, M., Lechner-Doll, M. & Streich, W. (2003) Ruminant diversification as an adaptation to the physicomechanical characteristics of forage. A reevaluation of an old debate and a new hypothesis. Oikos, 102, 253-262.
13. Clauss, M., Hummel, J. & Streich, W. (2006) The dissociation of the fluid and particle phase in the forestomach as a physiological characteristic of large grazing ruminants: an evaluation of available, comparable ruminant passage data. European Journal of Wildlife Research, 52, 88-98.
14. Codron, D., Codron, J., Sponheimer, M., Lee-Thorp, J.A., Robinson, T., Grant, C.C. & de Ruiter, D. (2005) Assessing diet in savanna herbivores using stable carbon isotope ratios of faeces. Koedoe, 48, 115-124.
15. Codron, D., Lee-Thorp, J.A., Sponheimer, M. & Codron, J. (2006) Nutritional content of savanna plant foods: implications for browser/grazer models of ungulate diversification. European Journal of Wildlife Research. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10344 [minus]006-0071-1.
16. Codron, J., Codron, D., Lee-Thorp, J.A., Sponheimer, M., Bond, W.J., de Ruiter, D. & Grant, R. (2005) Taxonomic, anatomical, and spatio-temporal variations in the stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions of plants from an African savanna. Journal of Archaeological Science, 32, 1757-1772.
17. Demment, M.W. & Van Soest, P.J. (1985) A nutritional explanation for body-size patterns of ruminant and nonruminant herbivores. American Naturalist, 125, 641-672.
18. Ditchkoff, S.S. (2000) A decade since 'diversification of ruminants': has our knowledge improved? Oecologia, 125, 82-84.
19. Dörgeloh, W.G., van Hoven, W. & Rethman, N.F.G. (1998) Faecal analysis as an indicator of the nutritional status of the diet of roan antelope in South Africa. South African Journal of Wildlife Research, 28, 16-23.
20. Erasmus, T., Penzhorn, B.L. & Fairall, N. (1978) Chemical composition of faeces as an index of veld quality. South African Journal of Wildlife Research, 8, 19-24.
21. Estes, R.D. (1991) The Behaviour Guide to African Mammals. University of California Press, Berkeley.
22. Gagnon, M. & Chew, A.E. (2000) Dietary preferences in extant African Bovidae. Journal of Mammalogy, 81, 490-511.
23. Gentry, A.W. (1978) Bovidae. Evolution of African Mammals (eds V.J. Maglio & H.B.S. Cooke), pp. 540-572. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
24. Gordon, I.J. & Illius, A.W. (1994) The functional significance of the browser-grazer dichotomy in African ruminants. Oecologia, 98, 167-175.
25. Gordon, I.J. & Illius, A.W. (1996) The nutritional ecology of African ruminants: a reinterpretation. Journal of Animal Ecology, 65, 18-28.
26. Hofmann, R.R. (1989) Evolutionary steps of ecophysiological adaptation and diversification of ruminants: a comparative view of their digestive system. Oecologia, 78, 443-457.
27. Hofmann, R.R. & Stewart, D.R.M. (1972) Grazer or browser: a classification based on the stomach structure and feeding habits of East African ruminants. Mammalia, 36, 226-240.
28. Holecheck, J.L., Vavre, M. & Pieper, R.D. (1982) Methods for determining the nutritive quality of range ruminant diets: a review. Journal of Animal Science, 54, 363-376.
29. Hummel, J., Südekum, K.H., Streich, W.J. & Clauss, M. (2006) Forage fermentation patterns and their implications for herbivore ingesta retention times. Functional Ecology, 20, 989-1002.
30. Illius, A.W. & Gordon, I.J. (1992) Modelling the nutritional ecology of ungulate herbivores: evolution of body size and competitive interactions. Oecologia, 89, 428-434.
31. Janis, C.M. (1988) An estimation of tooth volume and hypsodonty indices in ungulate mammals, and the correlation of these factors with dietary preference. Proceedings of the VIIth International Symposium on Dental Morphology 1986 (eds D.E. Russell, J.P. Santoro & D. Sigogneau-Russel), pp. 367-387. Memoirs of the Museum of Natural History, Paris, France.
32. Jarman, P.J. (1974) The social organization of antelope in relation to their ecology. Behaviour, 48, 215-266.
33. Lee-Thorp, J.A. & van der Merwe, N.J. (1987) Carbon isotope analysis of fossil bone apatite. South African Journal of Science, 83, 712-715.
34. Leslie, D.M. Jr & Starkey, E.E. (1985) Faecal indices to dietary quality of cervids in old-growth forests. Journal of Wildlife Management, 49, 142-146.
35. Meissner, H.H., Pieterse, E. & Potgieter, J.H.J. (1996) Seasonal food selection by male impala Aepyceros melampus in two habitats. South African Journal of Wildlife Research, 26, 56-63.
36. Owen-Smith, R.N. (1988) Megaherbivores - the Influence of Very Large Body Size on Ecology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
37. Owen-Smith, N. (1997) Distinctive features of the nutritional ecology of browsing versus grazing ruminants. Zeitschrift Fur Saugetierkunde- International Journal of Mammologyalian Biology, 62, 176-191.
38. Perez-Barberia, F.J. & Gordon, I.J. (2001) Relationships between oral morphology and feeding style in the Ungulata: a phylogenetically controlled evaluation. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, 268, 1021-1030.
39. Perez-Barberia, F.J., Elston, D.A., Gordon, I.J. & Illius, A.W. (2004) The evolution of phylogenetic differences in the efficiency of digestion in ruminants. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, 271B, 1081-1090.
40. Robbins, C.T. (1993) Wildlife Feeding and Nutrition, 2nd edn. Academic Press, New York.
41. Robbins, C.T., Hanley, T.A., Hagerman, A.E., Hjejord, O., Baker, D.L., Schwartz, C.C. & Mautz, W.W. (1987) Role of tannins in defending plants against ruminants: reduction in protein availability. Ecology, 68, 98-107.
42. Robbins, C.T., Spalinger, D.E. & van Hoven, W. (1995) Adaptation of ruminants to browse and grass diets: are anatomical-based browser-grazer interpretations valid? Oecologia, 103, 208-213.
43. Skinner, J.D. & Smithers, R.H.N. (1990) The Mammals of the Southern African Subregion, 2nd edn. University of Pretoria, Pretoria.
44. Sponheimer, M., Lee-Thorp, J.A., de Ruiter, D.J., Smith, J.M., van der Merwe, N.J., Reed, K., Grant, C.C., Ayliffe, L.K., Robinson, T.F., Heidelberger, C. & Marcus, W. (2003a) Diets of southern African Bovidae: stable isotope evidence. Journal of Mammalogy, 84, 471-479.
45. Sponheimer, M., Robinson, T., Ayliffe, L., Passey, B., Roeder, B., Shipley, L., Lopez, E., Cerling, T., Dearing, D. & Ehleringer, J. (2003b) An experimental study of carbonisotope fractionation between diet, hair, and feces of mammalian herbivores. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 81, 871-876.
46. 13C values to determine vegetation selectivity in east African herbivores. Oecologia, 37, 351-359.
47. Van Soest, P.J. (1994) Nutritional Ecology of the Ruminant, 2nd edn. Comstock, Ithaca, NY.
48. Van Wieren, S.E. (1996) Browsers and grazers: foraging strategies in ruminants. Digestive Strategies in Ruminants and Nonruminants (S.E. Van Wieren), Thesis Landbouw. University of Wageningen, The Netherlands.
49. Venter, F.J., Scholes, R.J. & Eckhardt, H.C. (2003) The abiotic template and its associated vegetation pattern. The Kruger Experience (eds J.T. du Toit, K.H. Rogers & H.C. Biggs), pp. 83-129. Island Press, Washington DC.
50. Vogel, J.C. (1978) Isotopic assessment of the dietary habits of ungulates. South African Journal of Science, 74, 298-301.
51. Williams, S.H. & Kay, R.F. (2001) A comparative test of adaptive explanations for hypsodonty in ungulates and rodents. Journal of Mammalian Evolution, 8, 207-229.