Nutrition & Cover Flashcards
How does nutrition differ in Herbivores vs. Carnivores?
Herbivores:
- Food quality more important than food quantity
- Nature & availability of plant material varies from place to place and season to season
Carnivores:
- Food quantity over food quality (their diets differ little in quality)
- Nutrition value varies little from species to species
What is the formula for energy content?
Gross energy content (kilojoules/ dry gram wt) of prey or forage multiplied by the % that is digestible and metabolizable
- Excludes fecal, urinary, and gaseous losses
Soil Fertility
Determines the nutrition value of vegetation and has a positive relationship with the size and densities of animals
- E.g. white tailed deer with adequate diet produced antlers with more forks
Where is most calcium found in the body?
Hydroxyapatite matrix; composes most vertebrate bones and teeth
How do some species obtain calcium in their diet?
- Female birds use calcium stored in their bones as well as increased intestinal absorption for eggshell formation
- Mammals mobilize calcium from their bones during lactation
- Carnivores (e.g. raptors) consume bones
- Porcupines and mice gnaw on shed antlers
How do moose and elk obtain sodium in their diet?
Ingest soil that’s rich with minerals (called geophagia)
Percent of protein found in terrestrial carnivores, ruminants, and piscivorous fish diets
Terrestrial carnivores diet: Exceeds 25%
Ruminants diet: 5-9%
Piscivorous fish diet: Exceeds 40%
What nutrients are important for incubation and why?
Fat and protein reserves; species lose weight during the incubation period
- Example: goose hen may loose 25-30% of her weight during incubation
Hibernation
A specialized adaptive seasonal reduction in metabolism concurrent with the environmental pressures of food availability and low temperatures
How many kcals can a black bear save a day during hibernation?
600 kcals/day
Beaver Basin Michigan
- Private club fed white-tailed deer
- Wolves extirpated around the same time
- Population grew to 650 deer and was handed over to the National Park Service
- Survey of the natural browse showed the habitat only had a carrying capacity of 150-200
- Deer began to die from malnutrition
- Eventually no deer remained
What are the negative consequences of artificial feeding?
- Monetary costs (diverts money away from other wildlife agencies)
- Excessive damage to vegetation important to other species
- Behavioural changes
- Increased risk of disease transmission
- Loss of public regard for natural habitat and its management
How can populations be reduced?
- By doing nothing
- Increasing hunting/cull or introducing predators
- Live trapping, removal and relocation
- Artificial feeding
- Habitat modification
What are some different types of Condition Indices?
- Visual scores
- Physical measurements:
e.g. body mass, body fat indices - Fecal analysis (measuring nitrogen content to estimate digestibility of forage)
- Blood indices:
e.g. blood urea nitrogen = indicator of dietary protein
serum urea nitrogen & the ratio of nitrogen to creatinine to = indicators of malnutrition and protein loss
Fulton’s Index (K)
Condition value used when evaluating the health of fish
- K = 100 x weight/length^3
> 1.6 = excellent
< 0.9 = poor
