Faecal nitrogen: a potential indicator of red and roe deer diet quality in forest habitats

0023251 - ÚBO 2006 RIV CZ eng J - Journal Article
Kamler, Jiří - Homolka, Miloslav
Faecal nitrogen: a potential indicator of red and roe deer diet quality in forest habitats.
[Obsah dusíku v trusu jelena a srnce jako indikátor kvality jejich potravy v lesním prostředí.]
Folia zoologica. Roč. 54, 1-2 (2005), s. 89-98. ISSN 0139-7893. E-ISSN 1573-1189
R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA206/99/D053; GA AV ČR(CZ) IBS6093003
Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60930519
Keywords : free-living ungulates * faecal indicators * diet quality
Subject RIV: EG - Zoology
Impact factor: 0.585, year: 2005
http://www.ivb.cz/folia/54/1-2/89-98.pdf

The relationship between faecal nitrogen (FN), dietary nitrogen (DN) and dietary metabolizable energy (DE) was studied in two localities in the region of the Jeseniky Mts, Czech Republic, during four seasons. The content of nitrogen in plants significant for nutrition ranged between 0.99 and 3.86 g/kg of dry matter and DE was from 7.8 to 10.7 MJ/kg of dry matter. The DN/DE ratio in individual plant species ranged from 1:2.49 (stinging nettle) to 1:9.05 (rowan). The content of nitrogen in vegetation samples correlated with the content of DE in all four seasons (p < 0.01). In both the red and roe deer the diet contained more DN and DE during the vegetation season (spring to autumn) than in winter. The content of FN corresponded to the changes in diet quality and was positively correlated with DN and DE contents in all cases. However, it is unwise to compare different feeding specialists or individuals of one species living in different habitats with different diet composition.

Byl sledován vztah mezi obsahem dusíku v trusu, obsahem dusíku v potravě a obsahem metabolizovatelné energie v potravě na dvou lokalitách v Jeseníkách během čtyř sezon. V našem materiálu byly zjištěné hodnoty trusového dusíku v korelaci se všemi sledovanými parametry diet (vláknina, dusík a ME). Je proto možné využívat jej za daných podmínek pro monitorování kvality potravy ungulates. Bez znalosti složení potravy však není možné porovnávat druhy na různých lokalitách či sezónách.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0111915