Fecal nitrogen as an index of dietary nitrogen in two sika deerCervus nippon populations

Ueno, Mayumi; Nishimura, Chiho; Takahashi, Hiroshi; Kaji, Koichi; Saitoh, Takashi

doi:10.1007/bf03194207

Cited by 23 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…This positive association has been found in several other studies and is the basis of the belief that FN is a useful indicator of diet quality (e.g. Leslie and Starkey 1985;Ueno et al 2007). Conversely, in non-supplemented populations, we speculate that most tannin originates from scrubs, which would be more frequently consumed when supplementary feeding is not practised and herbaceous plants are depleted.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 46%

Interpreting faecal nitrogen as a non-invasive indicator of diet quality and body condition in contexts of high ungulate density

et al. 2015

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 46%

Interpreting faecal nitrogen as a non-invasive indicator of diet quality and body condition in contexts of high ungulate density

et al. 2015

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“…Eight studies were designed specifically with captive or confined herbivores to evaluate predictive relationships of FN and intake of particular nutrients (Loeb and Schwab 1989, Leite and Stuth 1990, Nunez-Hernandez et al 1992, Irwin et al 1993, Cook et al 1994, Hodgman et al 1996, Wrench et al 1997, Mésochina et al 1998. One recent paper successfully retested reliability of the FN-dietary N relationship (Leslie and Starkey 1985) on free-ranging sika (Cervus nippon) in Japan (Ueno et al 2007). Twenty-six studies reported significant correlations of FN with 38 nutritional, ecological, behavioral, and demographic characteristics in captive and free-ranging populations (Table 3).…”

Section: Trends In Fn Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Facts From Feces: Nitrogen Still Measures Up as a Nutritional Index for Mammalian Herbivores

2008

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Fecal nitrogen (FN) has been applied widely as an index of dietary quality in studies of nutritional ecology of free‐ranging and captive vertebrate herbivores, particularly ruminants. Three related articles in the Journal of Wildlife Management (JWM; Leslie and Starkey 1985, 1987; Hobbs 1987) have been cited (n = 150) in 87 publications and 39 peer‐reviewed journals. The critique by Hobbs (1987) and the reply by Leslie and Starkey (1987) on limitations and appropriate applications of FN have been used to justify use of FN or negate its value as a nutritional proxy. We undertook a retrospective analysis of FN applications since 1985, largely because we sensed that methodological cautions noted in the 3 JWM publications were not being followed, leading to faulty conclusions and management applications, and that application protocols needed updating. From January 1986 through July 2007, the 107 species‐by‐continent applications of FN, citing the 3 JWM publications singly or in any combination, were diverse; FN was used in various ways on 5 continents and for 50 wild and domestic species. Cumulative rates of departure from recommended FN applications increased in recent years, largely in studies that compare different species while failing to fully acknowledge that differences likely reflected digestive capabilities rather than differences in some aspect of dietary intake. Post‐1985 research on plant secondary compounds (e.g., tannins) has refined limitations to the application of FN, permitting more straightforward protocols than were possible in 1985. Although use does not necessarily reflect value, the number of published applications during the past 22 years indicates that peer reviewers from a variety of scientific disciplines view FN as a suitable proxy for nutritional status, which can be used to contrast study units when carefully defined by the study design. Any index can have shortcomings, and there are still circumstances when application of FN is problematic. Precise prediction of intake with FN under field conditions is still hampered by inherent variability, but contrasts of comparable study units and species can be appropriate. Published protocols for FN, as amended herein, should be adhered to, and conclusions are strengthened by the use of multiple nutritional indices.

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“…We have previously shown that deer density 100 ha −1 of woodland habitat was similar across this landscape (Hewison et al 2007) and so, in the present analysis, we supposed that any differences in phenotypic quality must be generated by landscape‐related differences in food availability and/or quality. Hence, we tested this hypothesis (prediction 3) by investigating spatial variation in diet quality as indexed by levels of nitrogen and phosphorous in faecal samples (for studies of the relationship between dietary and faecal nitrogen and phosphorous, see Erasmus et al 1978, Howery and Pfister 1990, Ueno et al 2007) in relation to landscape openness.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Landscape fragmentation influences winter body mass of roe deer

Hewison¹,

Morellet²,

Verheyden³

et al. 2009

Ecography

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Body size of large herbivores is a crucial life history variable influencing individual fitness‐related traits. While the importance of this parameter in determining temporal trends in population dynamics is well established, much less information is available on spatial variation in body size at a local infra‐population scale. The relatively recent increase in landscape fragmentation over the last century has lead to substantial spatial heterogeneity in habitat quality across much of the modern agricultural landscape. In this paper, we analyse variation in body mass and size of roe deer inhabiting a heterogeneous agricultural landscape characterised by a variable degree of woodland fragmentation. We predicted that body mass should vary in relation to the degree of access to cultivated meadows and crops providing high quality diet supplements. In support of our prediction, roe deer body mass increased along a gradient of habitat fragmentation, with the heaviest deer occurring in the most open sectors and the lightest in the strict forest environment. These spatial differences were particularly pronounced for juveniles, reaching >3 kg (ca 20% of total body mass) between the two extremes of this gradient, and likely have a marked impact on individual fates. We also found that levels of both nitrogen and phosphorous were higher in deer faecal samples in the more open sectors compared to the forest environment, suggesting that the spatial patterns in body mass could be linked to the availability of high quality feeding habitat provided by the cultivated agricultural plain. Finally, we found that adults in the forest sector were ca 1 kg lighter for a given body size than their counterparts in the more open sectors, suggesting that access to nutrient rich foods allowed deer to accumulate substantial fat reserves, which is unusual for roe deer, with likely knock‐on effects for demographic traits and, hence, population dynamics.

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Fecal nitrogen as an index of dietary nitrogen in two sika deerCervus nippon populations

Cited by 23 publications

References 43 publications

Interpreting faecal nitrogen as a non-invasive indicator of diet quality and body condition in contexts of high ungulate density

Interpreting faecal nitrogen as a non-invasive indicator of diet quality and body condition in contexts of high ungulate density

Facts From Feces: Nitrogen Still Measures Up as a Nutritional Index for Mammalian Herbivores

Landscape fragmentation influences winter body mass of roe deer

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