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Plant secondary metabolites alter the feeding patterns of a mammalian herbivore (Neotoma lepida)

  • Plant Animal Interactions
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Abstract

Mammalian herbivores are predicted to regulate concentrations of ingested plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) in the blood by modifying the size and frequency of feeding bouts. It is theorized that meal size is limited by a maximum tolerable concentration of PSMs in the blood, such that meal size is predicted to decrease as PSM concentration increases. We investigated the relationship between PSM concentration in the diet and feeding patterns in the herbivorous desert woodrat (Neotoma lepida) fed diets containing phenolic resin extracted from creosote bush (Larrea tridentata). Total daily intake, meal size and feeding frequency were quantified by observing the foraging behavior of woodrats on diets containing increasing concentrations of creosote resin. Desert woodrats reduced meal size as resin concentration in the diet increased, resulting in an overall reduction in daily intake and regulation of resin intake. Moreover, desert woodrats were able to detect resin concentrations in the diet and regulate the intake of resin very rapidly. We suggest that the immediate and sustained ability to detect and regulate the intake of resin concentrations during each foraging bout provides a behavioral mechanism to regulate blood concentrations of resin and allows desert woodrats to make “wise” foraging decisions.

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Acknowledgements

We thank W.J. Foley, S. McLean and two anonymous reviewers for comments on the manuscript. We thank Lytele Ranch for accommodations during our trapping sessions. A. Walters, A. Markeson and C. Turnbull assisted in collecting desert woodrats in the field. Y. Al-Sheikh, L. Santos and A. Walters assisted in experimental procedures and animal husbandry and were in part supported by the University of Utah Biology Undergraduate Research Program and NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates. Research was supported by NSF IBN-0236402 and the University of Utah Graduate School Research Fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA

    Jennifer S. Sorensen, Emily Heward & M. Denise Dearing

  2. Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University–Cascades, Bend, OR, 97701, USA

    Jennifer S. Sorensen

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  1. Jennifer S. Sorensen
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  2. Emily Heward
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  3. M. Denise Dearing
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Correspondence to Jennifer S. Sorensen.

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Communicated by Oswald Schmitz

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Sorensen, J.S., Heward, E. & Dearing, M.D. Plant secondary metabolites alter the feeding patterns of a mammalian herbivore (Neotoma lepida). Oecologia 146, 415–422 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-005-0236-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-005-0236-8

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