The Nutritional Balancing Act of a Large Herbivore: An Experiment with Captive Moose (Alces alces L).

ABSTRACT: The nutrient balancing hypothesis proposes that, when sufficient food is available, the primary goal of animal diet selection is to obtain a nutritionally balanced diet. This hypothesis can be tested using the Geometric Framework for nutrition (GF). The GF enables researchers to study patterns of nutrient intake (e.g. macronutrients; protein, carbohydrates, fat), interactions between the different nutrients, and how an animal resolves the potential conflict between over-eating one or more nutrients and under-eating others during periods of dietary imbalance. Using the moose (Alces alces L.), a model species in the development of herbivore foraging theory, we conducted a feeding experiment guided by the GF, combining continuous observations of six captive moose with analysis of the macronut

SUBMITTER: Felton AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4795764 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature