Sex- and Age-specific Patterns of Mineral Lick Use by White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

Atwood, Todd C.; Weeks, Harmon P.

doi:10.1674/0003-0031(2002)148[0289:saaspo]2.0.co;2

Cited by 38 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…These observations imply that mountain goats may be particularly sensitive to the osmotic imbalance in the digestive tract that is thought to be associated with spring forage change (Klaus and Schmid 1998;Kreulen 1985). Early spring vegetation typically contains high concentrations of potassium that interfere with absorption and that can lead to harmful electrolyte losses, such as sodium and magnesium (Atwood and Weeks 2002;Weeks and Kirkpatrick 1976). Mountain goats may require inorganic supplements from licks to buffer against such ailments and maintain their adaptability to a wide range of spring forages.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of Natural Licks by Four Species of Ungulates in Northern British Columbia

2008

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Use of licks influences the movements and distribution of ungulates. We recorded attendance patterns, duration of visits to licks, and time spent licking by 4 ungulate species at wet and dry licks to examine possible influences on the timing of use of licks in northern British Columbia, Canada. Within-species licking intensity (based on regressions between time spent licking per visit and duration of visits to licks) was higher for elk (Cervus elaphus) than for moose (Alces alces) at wet licks, and higher for mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus) than for Stone's sheep (Ovis dalli stonei) at dry licks. Lick response variables (duration of visits to licks, time spent licking per visit, and proportion of time spent licking) did not vary significantly among early, mid-, and late summer seasons, but there were species-specific differences in the timing of highest attendance. High use of wet licks by both female and male elk in late May followed vegetation greening at low elevations. Average attendance by female elk was highest in late June, coinciding with high lactation demands. Attendance by moose at wet licks was highest in mid-July, potentially coinciding with other aspects of forage phenology such as increased plant defensive compounds. Attendance by Stone's sheep and mountain goats at dry licks was high in early July, following forage change at high elevations and again in early August, potentially related to the tradeoff between lactation demands and predation risk. Across species, consumption of lick soils allows ungulates to improve rumen function and nutrient absorption during the transition to spring and summer forage and to supplement elemental intake by females during the nutritional stress associated with lactation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of Natural Licks by Four Species of Ungulates in Northern British Columbia

2008

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“…For example, in many deer species, males exhibit age-and sex-specific foraging and nutrient use strategies, particularly in bone minerals (e.g. calcium and phosphorus), linked primarily to the demands of antler production (Atwood and Weeks, 2002;Banks et al, 1968;Cowan et al, 1968;Stephenson and Brown, 1984). The consequences of these sex-specific use strategies (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex-specific nutrient use and preferential allocation of resources to a sexually selected trait in Hyalella amphipods

Goos

Cothran

Jeyasingh

2016

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Although sexually dimorphic traits are often well studied, we know little about sex-specific resource use strategies that should underlie such dimorphism. We measured sex-specific responses in acquisition and assimilation of two fundamental resources, carbon (C) and phosphorus (P) in juvenile and mature Hyalella amphipods given low and high supplies of inorganic phosphate, analogous to oligotrophic and eutrophic conditions, respectively. Additionally, we quantified allocation of resources to sexual traits in males. Dual radiotracer ( 14 C and 33 P) assays revealed substantial age-and sexspecific differences in acquisition and assimilation. Furthermore, a phenotypic manipulation experiment revealed that amphipods fed low-P food allocated more C to all traits than those fed high-P food. Importantly, we found that amphipods preferentially allocated more C to the development of a sexually selected trait (the posterior gnathopod), compared with a serially homologous trait (the fifth pereopod) not under sexual selection. Substantial differences in how the sexes use fundamental resources, and the impact of altered nutrient supply on such differences, illuminate sexual dimorphism at the lowest level of biological organization. Such information will be important in understanding how sex-and age-specific life history demands influence nutrient processing in a biosphere characterized by rapidly changing alterations to biogeochemical cycles.

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“…Laboratory research has demonstrated that prions bind particularly well to clay minerals such as montmorillonite , and transmissibility increases when prions are bound to soils with high clay content (Johnson et al 2007). Because cervids consume soils during gazing, grooming, and from mineral licks (Beyer et al 1994, Atwood andWeeks 2002), soils may serve as an important reservoir for CWD transmission . Walter et al (2011) found that the soil clay content was associated with CWD infection in mule deer in Colorado.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deer density and disease prevalence influence transmission of chronic wasting disease in white‐tailed deer

et al. 2013

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Abstract. Host-parasite dynamics and strategies for managing infectious diseases of wildlife depend on the functional relationship between disease transmission rates and host density. However, the disease transmission function is rarely known for free-living wildlife, leading to uncertainty regarding the impacts of diseases on host populations and effective control actions. We evaluated the influence of deer density, landscape features, and soil clay content on transmission of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in young (,2-year-old) white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in south-central Wisconsin, USA. We evaluated how frequency-dependent, density-dependent, and intermediate transmission models predicted CWD incidence rates in harvested yearling deer. An intermediate transmission model, incorporating both disease prevalence and density of infected deer, performed better than simple density-and frequencydependent models. Our results indicate a combination of social structure, non-linear relationships between infectious contact and deer density, and distribution of disease among groups are important factors driving CWD infection in young deer. The landscape covariates % deciduous forest cover and forest edge density also were positively associated with infection rates, but soil clay content had no measurable influences on CWD transmission. Lack of strong density-dependent transmission rates indicates that controlling CWD by reducing deer density will be difficult. The consequences of non-linear disease transmission and aggregation of disease on cervid populations deserves further consideration.

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Sex- and Age-specific Patterns of Mineral Lick Use by White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

Cited by 38 publications

References 19 publications

Use of Natural Licks by Four Species of Ungulates in Northern British Columbia

Use of Natural Licks by Four Species of Ungulates in Northern British Columbia

Sex-specific nutrient use and preferential allocation of resources to a sexually selected trait in Hyalella amphipods

Deer density and disease prevalence influence transmission of chronic wasting disease in white‐tailed deer

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