Evaluation of factors inducing variability of faecal nutrients in captive red deer under variable demands

Abstract Based on the assumption that dietary and faecal nitrogen correlate, the number of studies using faecal samples collected in the wild to understand diet selection by wild herbivores and other ecological patterns has been growing during the last years, especially due to the recent development...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Stipan Čupić, Andrés J. García, Michaela Holá, Francisco Ceacero
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/4e9e13ee037b4892a0d5ba2f84405757
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:4e9e13ee037b4892a0d5ba2f84405757
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:4e9e13ee037b4892a0d5ba2f844057572021-12-02T10:48:13ZEvaluation of factors inducing variability of faecal nutrients in captive red deer under variable demands10.1038/s41598-021-81908-y2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/4e9e13ee037b4892a0d5ba2f844057572021-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-81908-yhttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Based on the assumption that dietary and faecal nitrogen correlate, the number of studies using faecal samples collected in the wild to understand diet selection by wild herbivores and other ecological patterns has been growing during the last years, especially due to the recent development of cheap tools for analysis of nutrients like Near-Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy (NIRS). Within the annual reproductive cycle, cervids (members of the family Cervidae) face strong seasonal variations in nutritional demands, different for hinds (gestation and lactation) and stags (antler growth) and reflected in differential patterns of seasonal diet selection. In this study we aimed to quantify how pasture availability, season and individual factors like sex, age, reproductive status, body mass and body condition affect faecal nutrients in captive red deer with the goal of understanding how these factors may influence the interpretation of results from samples obtained in the wild with little or no information about the animals who dropped those faeces. We used NIRS for analysing nitrogen, neutral and acid detergent fibres in faeces. The relative influence of some individual factors like pregnancy was low (around 4%), while age and weight may induce a variability up to 18%. The presence or absence of pasture contributed to a variability around 13%, while the season contributed to an average variability around 17% (and up to 21% in certain situations). This high variability in faecal nutrients was observed in a controlled setting with captive animals and controlled diets. Thus, in natural situations we suspect that there would be even greater variation. According to the results, we recommend that preliminary research with captive animals of the species of interest should be conducted before collecting samples in the wild, which should help in the interpretation of results.Stipan ČupićAndrés J. GarcíaMichaela HoláFrancisco CeaceroNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-11 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Stipan Čupić Andrés J. García Michaela Holá Francisco Ceacero Evaluation of factors inducing variability of faecal nutrients in captive red deer under variable demands
description	Abstract Based on the assumption that dietary and faecal nitrogen correlate, the number of studies using faecal samples collected in the wild to understand diet selection by wild herbivores and other ecological patterns has been growing during the last years, especially due to the recent development of cheap tools for analysis of nutrients like Near-Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy (NIRS). Within the annual reproductive cycle, cervids (members of the family Cervidae) face strong seasonal variations in nutritional demands, different for hinds (gestation and lactation) and stags (antler growth) and reflected in differential patterns of seasonal diet selection. In this study we aimed to quantify how pasture availability, season and individual factors like sex, age, reproductive status, body mass and body condition affect faecal nutrients in captive red deer with the goal of understanding how these factors may influence the interpretation of results from samples obtained in the wild with little or no information about the animals who dropped those faeces. We used NIRS for analysing nitrogen, neutral and acid detergent fibres in faeces. The relative influence of some individual factors like pregnancy was low (around 4%), while age and weight may induce a variability up to 18%. The presence or absence of pasture contributed to a variability around 13%, while the season contributed to an average variability around 17% (and up to 21% in certain situations). This high variability in faecal nutrients was observed in a controlled setting with captive animals and controlled diets. Thus, in natural situations we suspect that there would be even greater variation. According to the results, we recommend that preliminary research with captive animals of the species of interest should be conducted before collecting samples in the wild, which should help in the interpretation of results.
format	article
author	Stipan Čupić Andrés J. García Michaela Holá Francisco Ceacero
author_facet	Stipan Čupić Andrés J. García Michaela Holá Francisco Ceacero
author_sort	Stipan Čupić
title	Evaluation of factors inducing variability of faecal nutrients in captive red deer under variable demands
title_short	Evaluation of factors inducing variability of faecal nutrients in captive red deer under variable demands
title_full	Evaluation of factors inducing variability of faecal nutrients in captive red deer under variable demands
title_fullStr	Evaluation of factors inducing variability of faecal nutrients in captive red deer under variable demands
title_full_unstemmed	Evaluation of factors inducing variability of faecal nutrients in captive red deer under variable demands
title_sort	evaluation of factors inducing variability of faecal nutrients in captive red deer under variable demands
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/4e9e13ee037b4892a0d5ba2f84405757
work_keys_str_mv	AT stipancupic evaluationoffactorsinducingvariabilityoffaecalnutrientsincaptivereddeerundervariabledemands AT andresjgarcia evaluationoffactorsinducingvariabilityoffaecalnutrientsincaptivereddeerundervariabledemands AT michaelahola evaluationoffactorsinducingvariabilityoffaecalnutrientsincaptivereddeerundervariabledemands AT franciscoceacero evaluationoffactorsinducingvariabilityoffaecalnutrientsincaptivereddeerundervariabledemands
_version_	1718396644894965760

Evaluation of factors inducing variability of faecal nutrients in captive red deer under variable demands

Ejemplares similares