Comparative Field Energetics of Two Macropod Marsupials and a Ruminant.

1990 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 591 ◽  
Author(s):  
KA Nagy ◽  
GD Sanson ◽  
NK Jacobsen
Keyword(s):  
Feeding Rate ◽  
Energy Content ◽  
Metabolizable Energy ◽  
Ecological Modelling ◽  
Feeding Rates ◽  
Doubly Labelled Water ◽  
Water Influx ◽  
Scaling Relationship ◽  
Field Metabolic Rates ◽  
Free Ranging

Field metabolic rates (FMRs) and water influx rates were measured via the doubly labelled water method in wild Tasmanian pademelons and grey kangaroos living in the Jock Marshall Reserve at Clayton, Victoria, and in wild black-tailed deer free-ranging within a nature reserve at Davis, California. Deer expended more than 3 times more energy per day than similar sized grey kangaroos. Feeding rates required to achieve energy balance were estimated from FMRs along with an estimate of metabolizable energy content of the food. The estimated feeding rates for pademelons and kangaroos were combined with similar values for 5 other species of macropods to calculate an allometric (scaling) relationship for food requirements of macropod marsupials. Feeding rate had the following relationship to body mass: g food (DM) consumed per day = 0.20 g body mass0.79 (r2 = 0.94). The findings reported herein should be useful for predicting the approximate food requirements of free-ranging macropods and deer for purposes of ecological modelling, conservation efforts and management programmes.

Field Metabolic Rates, Water Fluxes, and Feeding Rates of Quokkas, Setonix-Brachyurus, and Tammars, Macropus-Eugenii, in Western-Australia

1989 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 553 ◽  
Author(s):  
KA Nagy ◽  
AJ Bradley ◽  
KD Morris
Keyword(s):  
Water Intake ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Feeding Rate ◽  
Metabolic Rates ◽  
Feeding Rates ◽  
Total Water ◽  
Water Influx ◽  
Field Metabolic Rates ◽  
Free Ranging ◽  
Total Water Intake

Field metabolic rates (FMRS) and water influx rates were measured by means of doubly labelled water in free-ranging quokkas living on Rottnest I, and free-ranging tammar wallabies living on Garden I. Feeding rates were estimated from energy requirements. Quokkas ranging in body mass from 1.44 to 2.83 kg (mean 1.90 kg) had FMRS averaging 0.574 mL C02 (g.h)-', which is equivalent to 548 kJ d-'. Their rates of total water intake averaged 47.3 mL (kg.d)-', or 90.5 mL d-'. Estimated feeding rate was 54.8 g (dry matter) per day, and water ingested as part of the food (preformed and metabolically produced) can completely account for total water intake. We believe that quokkas did not drink water during our field measurements. Tammars ranging in body mass from 3.20 to 6.35 kg (mean 4.38 kg) had FMRS averaging 0.518 mL CO2 (g.h)-', which is equivalent to 1150 kJ d-'. Their rates of water influx averaged 57.5 mL (kg.d)-', or 270 mL d-', and their estimated feeding rate was 115 g (dry matter) per day. Tammars also probably did not drink free-standing water during our study. FMRs of quokkas averaged 1 .80 x basal metabolic rate (BMR), and FMRS of tammars averaged 1.87 x BMR; this difference is not significant. We estimate that the 5000 quokkas on Rottnest I. consume at least 100 000 kg of plant matter (dry mass) per year, and the 2173 tammars on Garden I. ingest more than 90 000 kg. Measurements of food availability are needed to permit evaluation of the relationship between food supply and demand for these two populations of macropod marsupials.

Field Metabolic-Rate and Food Requirement of a Small Dasyurid Marsupial, Sminthopsis-Crassicaudata

1988 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 293 ◽  
Author(s):  
KA Nagy ◽  
AK Lee ◽  
RW Martin ◽  
MR Fleming
Keyword(s):  
Metabolic Rate ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Water Flux ◽  
Metabolic Rates ◽  
Feeding Rates ◽  
Doubly Labelled Water ◽  
Sminthopsis Crassicaudata ◽  
Food Requirement ◽  
Field Metabolic Rates ◽  
Free Ranging

Field metabolic rates (FMRs) and rates of water flux in free-ranging fat-tailed dunnarts, Sminthopsis crassicaudata, were measured during spring (late October) using doubly labelled water. Feeding rates were estimated on the basis of water and energy fluxes. FMRs averaged 68.7 kJ d-' in adults (mean body mass= 16.6 g), and were 29.2 kJ d-' in juveniles (6.1 g). These FMRs are 6.6 times basal metabolic rate (BMR), and are much higher than the hypothetical maxima of four to five times BMR. Other dasyurid marsupials also have high FMR/BMR ratios, but so does a small petaurid marsupial. S. crassicaudata consumed 80-90% of its body mass in arthropods each day. The diet of arthropods apparently provided enough water for the animals to maintain water balance without drinking during this study.

Seasonal-Variation in Water Flux, Field Metabolic-Rate and Food-Consumption of Free-Ranging Koalas (Phascolarctos-Cinereus)

1995 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 59 ◽  
Author(s):  
WAH Ellis ◽  
A Melzer ◽  
B Green ◽  
K Newgrain ◽  
MA Hindell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seasonal Changes ◽  
Water Flux ◽  
Energy Requirements ◽  
Metabolic Rates ◽  
Feeding Rates ◽  
Phascolarctos Cinereus ◽  
Water Influx ◽  
Eucalyptus Crebra ◽  
Field Metabolic Rates ◽  
Free Ranging

Mass-corrected field metabolic rates of free-ranging male koalas in central Queensland, Australia, varied between 0.329 MJ kg0.75 day-1 in summer and 0.382 MJ kg0.75 day-1 in winter. Field water influx measured 50.8 mL kg-0.8 day-1 in winter, increasing to 59.9 mL kg0.8 day-1 in summer for the same koalas, and was positively correlated with values for leaf moisture of food. Winter rates of water influx for koalas from Springsure were lower than those recorded for koalas from Victoria for the same period of the year. Mass-corrected feeding rates were lower in summer than winter; wet food intake was significantly lower than reported for similar sized female koalas from Victoria. The preferred browse was Eucalyptus crebra in winter and E. tereticornis in summer. Our study indicates that in central Queensland seasonal changes in diet selection by male koalas reflect increased energy requirements in winter and increased water requirements in summer.

Field Energetics and Water Balance of Sugar Gliders, Petaurus Breviceps (Marsupialia:Petauridae).

1985 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 683 ◽  
Author(s):  
KA Nagy ◽  
GC Suckling
Keyword(s):  
Dry Mass ◽  
The Other ◽  
Metabolic Rates ◽  
Doubly Labelled Water ◽  
Water Influx ◽  
Acacia Gum ◽  
Field Metabolic Rates ◽  
Petaurus Breviceps ◽  
Free Ranging ◽  
Mass Basis

Doubly labelled water measurements in free-ranging sugar gliders (Petaurus breviceps) weighing 121 g indicated that field metabolic rates (FMRS) averaged 62.5 litres CO2/kg daily, equivalent to 169 kJ per animal daily (3.8 times basal metabolic rate). The females, most of which had small pouch young, weighed significantly less than males (112 g compared with 135 g), but mass-specific FMRS did not differ significantly between sexes. Rates of water influx (mass-specific) also did not differ between sexes, and were 208 ml/kg daily. The diet consisted of about two-thirds acacia gum, one-third mixed arthropods and traces of bark (on a dry mass basis). Apparent assimilation of dietary substances was 88% for DM, 89% for energy, 86% for nitrogen and 61% for water. Gliders consumed 11.2 g DM of food daily. The diet contained 44% water (fresh mass basis), and provided about half of the water gliders obtained. The other half presumably was ingested as rainwater. In comparison with the ecologically similar Leadbeater's possums (129 g), sugar gliders had lower metabolic rates while active outside their nests (17.4 compared with 31.4 kJ/h for the possums), primarily because possums spent energy for activity 2.5 times faster than did sugar gliders. This suggests that gliding affords sugar gliders a considerable energetic saving, but portion of time abroad spent foraging and resting, and distribution, abundance and predictability of food resources may also account for this difference.

Field Metabolic-Rate, Water Flux, and Food-Requirements of Short-Nosed Bandicoots, Isoodon-Obesulus (Marsupialia, Peramelidae)

1991 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 299 ◽  
Author(s):  
KA Nagy ◽  
SD Bradshaw ◽  
BT Clay
Keyword(s):  
Metabolic Rate ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Produced Water ◽  
Water Flux ◽  
Pond Water ◽  
Doubly Labelled Water ◽  
Fresh Matter ◽  
Water Influx ◽  
Study Population ◽  
Field Metabolic Rates

Field metabolic rates (FMRS) and water influx rates of free-living short-nosed bandicoots (Isoodon obesulus) were measured via the doubly labelled water technique. Bandicoots ranging in body mass from 775 to 1825 g (mean = 1230 g) had FMRS averaging 0.908 mL CO2 g-1 h-1, or 644 kJ d-1. This is about 2.7 times predicted basal metabolic rate. Water influx rates during the autumn measurement period were comparatively low, averaging 88.8 mL kg-1 d-1, or 103 mL d-1 for a 1230 g animal. Feeding rate (dry matter intake) was estimated to be 45 g d-1, assuming that the food was half invertebrates and half plant tissues (dry matter basis). Performed and metabolically produced water from the food can completely account for total water intake, indicating that bandicoots did not drink the rainwater or pond water that was available. The study population (estimated density = 0.63 bandicoots ha-1) consumed food at a rate of about 62 g fresh matter ha-1 d-1 (equivalent to 27 g dry matter or 605 kJ ha-1 d-1), which is similar to the food requirements of populations of small eutherian and marsupial insectivores in other habitats.

Energetics, osmoregulation, and food consumption by free-living desert lizards, Ctenophorus (= Amphibolurus) nuchalis

1995 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.D. Bradshaw ◽  
K.A. Nagy
Keyword(s):  
Body Condition ◽  
Sodium Intake ◽  
Material Balance ◽  
Mass Gain ◽  
Feeding Rates ◽  
Doubly Labelled Water ◽  
Shark Bay ◽  
Agamid Lizard ◽  
Field Metabolic Rates ◽  
Condition Indices

AbstractThe ecophysiology of the agamid lizard Ctenophorus nuchalis was studied near Shark Bay, Western Australia, during three seasons, over four years, in order to evaluate seasonal and year-to-year variation in energy and material balance, and to compare this agamid with similar-sized iguanid lizards. We measured water influx and efflux rates and field metabolic rates with doubly-labelled water, sodium fluxes with radiosodium, and osmotic status (plasma osmotic and ionic concentrations) in free-ranging adults of both sexes, as well as juveniles. Feeding rates were calculated from diet composition information in conjunction with rates of water and sodium intake, and body condition indices were also determined. There were marked seasonal and year-to-year differences in body condition, and in rates of body mass gain or loss, and these correlated with drought periods. Rates of resource use were highest in spring, and declined through summer and autumn, and rates were lowest during 1983, a year having unusually low winter rainfall. Hatchlings, which emerged in autumn, were able to find and capture food resources, even though adults were eating little during that season. The annual pattern of energy, water and salt balance in this agamid lizard is quite similar to that of an equivalent-sized iguanid lizard.

Foraging efficiency: energy expenditure versus energy gain in free-ranging black-tailed deer

1996 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 442-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine L. Parker ◽  
Michael P. Gillingham ◽  
Thomas A. Hanley ◽  
Charles T. Robbins
Keyword(s):  
Energy Expenditure ◽  
Energy Intake ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Energy Content ◽  
Metabolizable Energy ◽  
Foraging Efficiency ◽  
Dry Matter Digestibility ◽  
Metabolizable Energy Intake ◽  
Free Ranging

Foraging efficiency (metabolizable energy intake/energy expenditure when foraging) was determined over a 2-year period in nine free-ranging Sitka black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis) in Alaska, and related to foraging-bout duration, distances travelled, and average speeds of travel. We calculated the energy-intake component from seasonal dry matter and energy content, dry matter digestibility, and a metabolizable energy coefficient for each plant species ingested. We estimated energy expenditures when foraging as the sum of energy costs of standing, horizontal and vertical locomotion, sinking depths in snow, and supplementary expenditures associated with temperatures outside thermoneutrality. Energy intake per minute averaged 4.0 times more in summer than winter; energy expenditure was 1.2 times greater in summer. Animals obtained higher amounts of metabolizable energy with higher amounts of energy invested. Energy intake during foraging bouts in summer was 2.5 times the energy invested; in contrast, energy intake during winter was only 0.7 times the energy expended. Changes in body mass of deer throughout the year increased asymptotically with foraging efficiency, driven primarily by the rate of metabolizable energy intake. Within a season, summer intake rates and winter rates of energy expediture had the greatest effects on the relation between foraging efficiency and mass status. Seasonal changes in foraging efficiency result in seasonal cycles in body mass and condition in black-tailed deer. Body reserves accumulated during summer, however, are essential for over-winter survival of north-temperate ungulates because energy demands cannot be met by foraging alone.

Diets and predictions of feeding rate of house mice and Lakeland Downs short-tailed mice inhabiting an arid-zone island in Western Australia

2002 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 249 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Moro ◽  
S. D. Bradshaw
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Feeding Rate ◽  
Arid Zone ◽  
Rodent Species ◽  
Dietary Sodium ◽  
Feeding Rates ◽  
Faecal Pellets ◽  
Dietary Requirements ◽  
Free Ranging

An analysis of the faecal pellets of two species of arid-zone mouse, the house mouse (Mus domesticus) and Lakeland Downs short-tailed mouse (Leggadina lakedownensis), inhabiting Thevenard Island in Western Australia was conducted to ascertain their dietary requirements, and to use this information to predict their feeding rates in the field. Both species consumed seed, monocotyledon and dicotyledon plant material and invertebrate material, although the relative frequency-of-occurrence of these items varied throughout the year. Invertebrate material formed the highest proportion of dietary intake for both rodent species at all times, suggesting that this dietary strategy is advantageous for rodent species that inhabit environments where plant seeding is seasonal and rainfall dependent. The dry-matter intake (DMI) of free-ranging M.�domesticus and L. lakedownensis was predicted and compared using information from two sources: their isotopic water fluxes and the water content of their diet, and their isotopic sodium fluxes and the sodium content of their diet with and without corrections for non-dietary (exogenous) sources of sodium. The DMI derived from the water turnover was high for both species, suggesting that the mice were drinking and that assumptions inherent in this calculation were violated. Feeding rates were also high if no correction was made for exogenous, non-dietary sodium. When corrections were made, however, M. domesticus was predicted to ingest 4.62 ± 0.20 g dry matter day–1 compared with 3.86 ± 0.23 g dry matter day–1 for L.�lakedownensis. When DMI was scaled on the basis of allometric predictions for desert eutherians, only estimates of DMI for M. domesticus fell outside the predicted 95% confidence intervals. The results presented suggest that M. domesticus were obtaining some sodium from sources additional to their diet. Taken together, this methodology provides a useful application for measuring the feeding rate of free-ranging species given known dietary requirements in the field.

Energy and Water Metabolism in Free-Living Greater Gliders, Petauroides-Volans

1990 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
WJ Foley ◽  
JC Kehl ◽  
KA Nagy ◽  
IR Kaplan ◽  
AC Borsboom
Keyword(s):  
Metabolic Rate ◽  
Water Flux ◽  
Energy Losses ◽  
Water Metabolism ◽  
Free Living ◽  
Doubly Labelled Water ◽  
Eucalypt Forest ◽  
Water Influx ◽  
Gross Energy ◽  
Field Metabolic Rates

Water flux and metabolic rate were measured using a low-level, doubly-labelled water technique in eight free-living greater gliders, Petauroides volans which were maintaining constant body masses at about 1 kg in eucalypt forest near Maryborough, Queensland. Mean water influx was 88.0�3.2 mL d-' and mean metabolic rate was 25.1 L C02 d-' or 520 kJ d-'. These arboreal folivores have field metabolic rates and water influx rates that are 96% and 71% respectively of those predicted for a herbivorous marsupial of their body mass. Assuming that faecal energy losses were 43% of gross energy intakes and that urinary energy losses were 15% of digestible energy intakes, the gross energy intake of the animals was about 1130 kJ d-'. Animals would need to eat between 45 and 50 g of dry matter daily to satisfy these energy requirements. Based on these results, a preliminary energy budget for greater gliders has been proposed.

Seasonal daily, daytime and night-time field metabolic rates in Arabian babblers (Turdoides squamiceps)

2002 ◽  
Vol 205 (22) ◽  
pp. 3571-3575 ◽  
Author(s):  
Avner Anava ◽  
Michael Kam ◽  
Amiram Shkolnik ◽  
A. Allan Degen
Keyword(s):  
Energy Expenditure ◽  
Metabolic Rate ◽  
Breeding Season ◽  
Seasonal Patterns ◽  
Metabolic Rates ◽  
Night Time ◽  
Doubly Labelled Water ◽  
Influx Rate ◽  
Water Influx ◽  
Field Metabolic Rates

SUMMARY Arabian babblers (Turdoides squamiceps; mean adult body mass=72.5 g) inhabit extreme deserts of Israel. Previous studies have shown that their daily field metabolic rates are similar in winter and summer and that there is an increase during the breeding season. We hypothesized that the difference in seasonal daily field metabolic rate would be a consequence of differences in daytime metabolic rate, and that night-time metabolic rate would be similar during the three seasons. We used doubly labelled water to determine daily,daytime and night-time field metabolic and water-influx rates in breeding babblers in spring and nonbreeding babblers in winter and summer. Daily and daytime energy expenditure rates were higher during the breeding season than during either summer or winter, but there was no difference among seasons in night-time energy expenditure rates. Thus, our hypothesis was supported. The daytime field metabolic rates in summer and winter nonbreeding babblers were 3.92× and 4.32× the resting metabolic rate (RMR),respectively, and in breeding babblers was 5.04× RMR, whereas the night-time field metabolic rates ranged between 1.26× RMR and 1.35× RMR in the three seasons. Daily and daytime water-influx rates were highest in winter, intermediate during the breeding season and lowest in summer, but there was no difference among seasons in night-time water-influx rate. Daytime water-influx rate was greater than night-time water-influx rate by 2.5-fold in summer, 3.9-fold in the breeding season and 6.75-fold in winter. Seasonal patterns of daily and daytime energy expenditure were similar, as were seasonal patterns of daily and daytime water influx. Daily and daytime energy expenditure and water-influx rates differed among seasons whereas night-time rates of both did not. Daily and daytime field metabolic rates of babblers were highest during the breeding season, whereas daily and daytime water-influx rates were highest in winter.

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