Download Rel. BMR (Kcal/day/100 g body mass)

Food shortage appears to be the chief
natural factor limiting the numbers of
many birds, of various carnivorous and
herbivorous mammals, of many larger
marine fish, and of certain predatory
insects
D. Lack
Food, Water, & Nutrition
• What are the relationships between nutrition and
wildlife populations?
• What are food components and how does
understanding them help us as a wildlife
biologist?
Food, Water, & Nutrition
• What is the differences between food use, food
digestibility, food availability, & food selection;
what affects these thing’s, and how can I use
this information to manage wildlife?
• How do wildlife get water, and how much water
do wildlife need?
• Who cares?
Food, Water, & Nutrition
• Nutrition affects condition, mortality, &
reproduction
– Population Dynamics (i.e., N)
• Food & water = Welfare or Decimating Factors?
Food, Water, & Nutrition
• White-tailed deer (New York; Verme 1965)
High Nutrition
Does examined
27
Does not bred
0
Fawns produced
47
Litters (1:2:3 fawns)
2:21:1
Fawns per doe
1.74
% male fawns
36
• Florida?
Low Nutrition
22
2
21
17:2:0
0.95
69
Food, Water, & Nutrition
Compared to birds eating a “normal” diet (%)
Species
Northern Bobwhite
Scaled Quail
Diet
Body mass Ovary mass
Egg
production
Egg
mass
Low E
0.81
0.25
0.12
0.99
Low P
0.89
0.73
0.71
0.94
Low E & P
0.80
0.17
0.10
0.97
Low E
0.99
0.42
0.26
0.96
Low P
1.00
1.00
1.00
0.99
Low E & P
0.85
0.21
0.30
1.00
Giuliano et al. (1996)
Jeff Vanuga, USDA NRCS
Food, Water, & Nutrition
• Food Components
– Energy
– Proteins
– Carbohydrates
– Fats
– Minerals (Nutrients)
– Vitamins
– Water
100
14
Homeotherms
– Season
– Activity
– Size matters
– Species
BMR (Kcal/day)
• Energy
12
10
8
50
6
4
2
0
0
0
0.5
– Thermal neutral zone
– Homeotherms v. poikilotherms
– Endotherm v. ectotherm
1
Body Mass (Kg)
1.5
Rel. BMR (Kcal/day/100 g body mass)
Food, Water, & Nutrition
Food, Water, & Nutrition
• Energy
– Content (gross): Fats > Proteins > Carbohydrates
– Utilization: Carbohydrates > Fats > Proteins
– Food v. stored
• Mammals > birds > herps
Food, Water, & Nutrition
• Energy
(W.W. Mautz/Wildlife Management Institute 1978)
Food, Water, & Nutrition
• Energy
Gross Energy
Digestible Energy
Energy Lost
in Feces
Metabolizable Energy
Energy Lost
in Urine and Methane
– Species-specific
Net Energy
Energy Lost
In Work of Digestion
Food, Water, & Nutrition
• Carbohydrates
– 3.9-4.2 kcal/g
– Cellulose, starches, sugars
– Plants*
– Availability/digestibility
Food, Water, & Nutrition
• Fats (and oils)
– 9.5 kcal/g
– Meat and some seeds
– Availability/digestibility
Food, Water, & Nutrition
• Protein
– 5.7 kcal/g
– Amino acids*
– Meat and legumes
– Availability/digestibility
Food, Water, & Nutrition
• Minerals (Nutrients)
– Micro v. macro
• 0.01% of body mass
– Licks
Food, Water, & Nutrition
• Vitamins
– Essential in small amounts
– Coprophagy
Food, Water, & Nutrition
• Proper nutrition
– Diverse diet
– Carnivore v. herbivore
•
•
•
•
Energy
Other components
Parts of foods not the same
Selectivity
• Protein & vitamin issues for herbivores
Food, Water, & Nutrition
Food
Energy
(Kcal/100 g)
Protein
(%)
Fat
(%)
Carbo’s
(%)
Grass
220
13
6
73
Jack pine
needles
524
9
12
77
White cedar
twigs & leaves
237
3
4
91
Snails
219
52
1
0
Crabs
170
33
2
9
Insects
374
56
4
24
Fish
426
76
4
0
Bird eggs
430
38
31
0
Birds
446
57
24
0
448
89
10
0
(From Bolen & Robinson 2003)
Mammals
Bolen, Eric G.; Robinson, William, Wildlife Ecology and Management, 5 th Edition, ©2003. Electronically reproduced by permission of Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
Food, Water, & Nutrition
• Diet
– Species
– Sex
– Age
– Season
– Year
Food, Water, & Nutrition
• Understanding wildlife nutrition
– Food use
– Food digestibility
– Food availability
– Food selection*
Food, Water, & Nutrition
• Food use
– Carnivores v. herbivores
– Feeding rates
• Predation & foraging behavior
– Bobwhite & supplemental feeding example
– Large carnivores in Africa example
(U.S Fish & Wildlife Service)
(U.S Fish & Wildlife Service)
Food, Water, & Nutrition
• Food use
– Quality v. quantity
• Species
– Herbivore v. carnivore
• Season
– e.g., Spring or after fire green-up
• Part of organism
– e.g., seed v. stem
Food, Water, & Nutrition
Food
Energy
(Kcal/100 g)
Protein
(%)
Fat
(%)
Carbo’s
(%)
Grass
220
13
6
73
Jack pine
needles
524
9
12
77
White cedar
twigs & leaves
237
3
4
91
Snails
219
52
1
0
Crabs
170
33
2
9
Insects
374
56
4
24
Fish
426
76
4
0
Bird eggs
430
38
31
0
Birds
446
57
24
0
448
89
10
0
(From Bolen & Robinson 2003)
Mammals
Bolen, Eric G.; Robinson, William, Wildlife Ecology and Management, 5 th Edition, ©2003. Electronically reproduced by permission of Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
Food, Water, &
Nutrition
• Food use
– Habitat effects
• Especially herbivores
–K
Food, Water, & Nutrition
• Food digestibility
Bird
Mammals & Herps
Ruminant Mammal
Mouth
Esophagus
Stomach
Crop
Rumen
Esophagus
Small Intestine
Proventriculus
Gizzard
Cecum
Intestine
Ceca
Large Intestine
Rumen
Reticulum
Cloaca
Rectum
Abomasum
Omasum
Vent
Anus
– GI tract length & passage rates important
– Artificial feeding problems
Food, Water, & Nutrition
• Food (& components) availability
– Quantity
– Accessibility
– Digestibility
• Plant defenses
• Hard animal parts
(W.W. Mautz/Wildlife Management Institute 1978)
– Effects on movements & distribution
• Native
• Food plots
• Supplemental feeding
Food, Water, & Nutrition
• Food selection
– Use relative to availability
Food
% use
% available
Selection
A
60
80
-
B
10
10
0
C
30
5
+
D
0
5
-
– A limiting factor/link
Food, Water, & Nutrition
• Jaguar feeding ecology: the distribution of
predator & prey through time & space
– A case study
Food, Water, & Nutrition
• Water
– Digestion, metabolism, excretion, & cooling
– Cover
USDA Photo: Tim McCabe
Food, Water, & Nutrition
• Water
– Sources
• Free water
– Ponds, puddles, dew, etc.
• Foods
– Seeds: 2-3%
– Animal tissue & succulent plants: up to 70%
• Metabolism (metabolic water)
– Fats: 1.07 ml/g
– Proteins: 0.40 ml/g
– Carbohydrates: 0.56 ml/g
Food, Water, & Nutrition
• Water
– Size, sex, age, & season
– Adaptations
– Effects on distribution
USDA Photo: Tim McCabe
Sliding down a brushy hillside
Food, Water, &
Nutrition
• Effects on condition
– Survival & repro.
•N
– Limiting season
• Prior seasons
– Reserves
– Too fat?
(W.W. Mautz/Wildlife Management Institute 1978)
Food, Water, & Nutrition
• Habitat management
– Habitat components in relation to conditions
• Food, cover, water, & space
• So what!
Cover is a magic word in wildlife
management. It is, indeed, often a magic
wand with which wild animals and birds
are made to populate places formerly
uninhabitable. …It seems desirable that
we should seek to analyze the complex
nature of cover more carefully.
C. Elton
Cover
•
•
•
•
•
•
What is cover?
What types of cover are there?
What factors affect cover selection?
How do wildlife use cover differently?
What factors affect cover quality & availability?
Who cares?
Cover
• Cover v. habitat
• Covert
• Any structural resource of the environment that
enhances reproduction and/or survival of wildlife
by providing for any of the natural functions of
the species (Bailey 1984)
– A place
• Cover = Welfare or Decimating Factor?
Cover
• Shelter for wildlife that consists of
vegetation and topographic features that
provide places to feed, hide, sleep, play,
and raise young (Leopold 1933)
– Artificial structures
Chris Schnepf, University of Idaho, www.forestryimages.org
Cover
• Recognizing wildlife adaptations to cover
(U.S Fish & Wildlife Service)
• Management
(U.S Fish & Wildlife Service)
Cover
• Multi-dimensional & 360◦
– Movements, shelter, & visibility
Cover
• Types & functions of cover
– Shelter & concealment
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Winter
Refuge
Loafing/resting
Nesting
Breeding
Roasting
Thermal
Escape
Bedding/roosting
Feeding
Traveling
← Leopold’s “Special Factors”
img5.travelblog.org
(NOAA Photo)
Cover
• Ecological traps
Chris Schnepf, University of Idaho
Cover
(U.S Fish & Wildlife Service)
Cover
• Generalists v. specialists
(U.S Fish & Wildlife Service)
(U.S Fish & Wildlife Service)
Cover
• Vegetation: structure v. species
(U.S Fish & Wildlife Service)
(U.S Fish & Wildlife Service)
Cover
Scott Bauer, USDA ARS
Chris Schnepf, University of Idaho
• Deer yards
– Limiting type
– Snow, wind, & temperature
– Food
David Shorthouse, University of Alberta
– Limiting factor/link
– The brushy hillside
Paul Bolstad, University of Minnesota
Cover
• What affects cover requirements?
– Species
– Function
– Season
– Age
– Predation pressure
– Pests
– Weather
– Region
Chris Schnepf, University of Idaho
Paul Bolstad, University of Minnesota
Cover
• Selection v. use v. availability
• Availability & management
– Land-use
– Succession
• So what!