Food Plant Selection by a Generalist Herbivore: The Moose

Belovsky, Gary E.

doi:10.2307/1937001

Cited by 190 publications

(125 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Quantitative understanding of this process is more rudimentary than that in the area of nutrient maximization. Indeed, the influence of secondary compounds on diet selection is routinely employed as an explanation for the variation in diet selection that cannot be accounted for on the basis of nutrient maximization (Belovsky, 1981;Angerbjorn & Pehrson, 1987). The crude state of our understanding of the role of secondary compounds in food choice is partly related to the fact that the range of chemical compounds to be considered is diverse, with numerous different groups of secondary plant compounds existing in nature.…”

Section: Diet Selection: Toxin Minimizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat selection according to the ability of animals to eat, digest and detoxify foods

Duncan¹,

Gordon

1999

Proc. Nutr. Soc.

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fax +44 (0)1224 311556, email a.duncan@mluri.sari.ac.uk Large herbivores play a major role in shaping vegetation community dynamics through selective consumption of particular plants and plant communities. An understanding of the factors influencing diet selection at the level of individual bites ('bite scale') is important for prediction of the impact of herbivores on vegetation at the habitat scale. Bite-scale diet selection represents an integration of the twin goals of maximizing nutrient intake and minimizing toxin intake. Recent research with ruminants in pen-fed situations has shown that animals are able to make choices between artificial foods that maximize growth and other production variables. The role of postingestive feedback as an important mechanism for allowing animals to assess the nutritional quality of particular foods, and so select optimal diets, has been recognized in a number of recent experiments. Our understanding of the role of toxin intake minimization in diet selection decisions is more rudimentary. An important advance in the last decade has been the acknowledgement of the role of post-ingestive feedback and learning as a mechanism for avoidance of dietary toxicity. Further research is required to assess the importance of these processes in relation to free-grazing animals. The extent to which an understanding of bite-scale diet selection can be used to predict habitat utilization is not well understood. At the habitat scale additional factors such as predator avoidance, social constraints, avoidance of parasitism and microclimatic effects have an important influence on foraging decisions. Future research needs to focus on developing a quantitative understanding of such decisions at the habitat scale.Diet selection: Habitat selection: Herbivore: Post-ingestive feedback Large herbivores are major drivers of ecosystem function and dynamics in many terrestrial biomes. Through grazing, trampling, defecation and urination they affect nutrient flows, vegetation community dynamics and the responses of associated fauna. In turn, ecosystem characteristics such as composition, productivity and distribution of resources determine the nutrition of individual herbivores and the dynamics of herbivore populations. Consequently, knowledge of the foraging behaviour and habitat use of herbivores is of primary importance in determining the relationships between individual animal and population performance, and between herbivorous animals and their vegetation resources. Only through the development of this understanding can objective guidance for the sustainable management of natural resources be given.Herbivores foraging in heterogeneous environments focus their foraging pressure on particular plant communities. Thus, their impact on the vegetation is distributed across the foraging environment in a non-uniform way. A range of factors can influence the choice of habitats by large herbivores, and it is important to understand these influences in order to arrive at a predictive means of assessing how herb...

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Section: Diet Selection: Toxin Minimizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat selection according to the ability of animals to eat, digest and detoxify foods

Duncan¹,

Gordon

1999

Proc. Nutr. Soc.

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“…In theory, moose select the composition and amount of food items that best fulfil their nutrient and energy requirements (Belovsky 1981). In the case of forest environments, moose should select those stands, patches of trees or individual trees which have the best amount and quality of browsable items compared with other available stands, patches or individual trees.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling the factors predisposing Scots pine to moose damage in artificially regenerated sapling stands in Finnish Lapland

Nikula¹,

Hallikainen²,

Jalkanen³

et al. 2008

Silva Fenn.

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Moose (Alces alces) damage in forest plantations have been at a high level in Finland in recent decades. Nowadays, moose is the most severe pest in Scots pine plantations also in Finnish Lapland. So far, despite the high level of damage and different bio-geographical conditions in Northern Finland, most of the moose-damage research has been carried out in Southern Finland. A number of research have also been performed to analyse factors affecting browsing but predictive models are rare. Data from 123 randomly selected and artificially regenerated pine plantations in Northern Finland were used in modelling the risk of moose browsing. The stands had been regenerated during 1984-1995. A total of 508 sample plots (range 2-8 plots per stand) were measured. Hierarchical logistic regression models with a random factor were constructed to predict the probability of leader-shoot browsing of pine on a plot. The number of planted pines and deciduous trees overtopping the pines were the most important predictors increasing the browsing probability. The results support earlier findings that deciduous trees overtopping or reaching the height of the pines should be cleaned from the immediate vicinity of the pines. Seedlings with a height ranging from 75 to 299 centimetres were more susceptible to browsing. Heavy soil scarification, such as ploughing or mounding, increased the browsing probability compared with lighter scarification methods. Soil type did not affect the browsing probability, but paludification decreased it. The within-stand variation in deciduous trees density and height should be taken into account in future moose browsing risk assessments. In Lapland, high moose damage risk areas are characterized by a low elevation and higher temperature sum.

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“…In addition to movement costs related to the acquisition of food, herbivores have to balance between energy contents and the nutritional quality of the food (Belovsky 1978). Therefore, herbivores have been hypothesized to favour sites with diverse composition of plant species due to the diverse set of nutrients gained from several plant species (Westoby 1974;Belovsky 1981b).…”

Section: Animal Resource Selection At Multiple Scales -Theoretical Bamentioning

confidence: 99%

Hirven Alces alces resurssinvalinta useilla mittakaavan tasoilla – puista, taimikoista- ja elinpiireistä maisemiin ja ja ja alueisiin

Nikula¹

2017

Diss. For.

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To be presented, with the permission of the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry of the University of Helsinki, for public critisism in auditorium 108 (ls B3), Metsätieteiden talo (Viikki campus, Latokartanonkaari 7, Helsinki) on March 24 th 2017, at 12 o´clock noon. ABSTRACTThe Moose is a valuable game animal in Fennoscandia but also the most severe pest in forest plantations. In this thesis, I examined factors that affect the habitat selection of moose and moose damage at multiple scales. At the plot level, browsing increased with an increasing number of artificially regenerated pines and deciduous trees taller than pines. The damage risk was the highest in plantations with heavy soil preparation.Moose summer home ranges had more fertile sites than the overall study area. Within summer ranges moose, selected non-pine-dominated habitats and mature forests and avoided human settlements. Winter ranges contained more pine-dominated plantations and other young successional stages, more pine dominated peatland forests and less human settlements and agricultural fields. Within winter ranges, moose used more non-pinedominated plantations and mature forests and less human-inhabited areas than expected. At the home range level, there were no significant differences between sexes, but within home ranges males and females used different habitats during both seasons.The occurrence of damage in nearby landscape decreased the probability to find a landscape without damage and predicted an increase in the number of damaged plantations. Increased food-cover adjacencies of mature forests and plantations increased damage. An increasing proportion of inhabited areas and the length of connecting roads decreased the number of damage at the landscape sizes of 1 km 2 and 5 km 2 . Moose-damaged stands were concentrated in SW and eastern Lapland in Peräpohja Schist Belt and Lapland's Greenstone Belt with nutrient-rich bedrock. There was less damage in landscapes with an abundant amount of pine-dominated thinning forests. Moose damage plantations were located more on fertile bedrock and soils than undamaged ones. Regenerating Scots pine on fine-grained soils derived from nutrient-rich rocks and naturally occupied by Norway spruce might increase damage risk.

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Food Plant Selection by a Generalist Herbivore: The Moose

Cited by 190 publications

References 24 publications

Habitat selection according to the ability of animals to eat, digest and detoxify foods

Habitat selection according to the ability of animals to eat, digest and detoxify foods

Modelling the factors predisposing Scots pine to moose damage in artificially regenerated sapling stands in Finnish Lapland

Hirven Alces alces resurssinvalinta useilla mittakaavan tasoilla – puista, taimikoista- ja elinpiireistä maisemiin ja ja ja alueisiin

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