BIOL3045 Lecture Notes - Lecture 22: Sifaka
3 Jul 2018
School
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Animal Ecological Physiology BIOL3045 460381099
Lecture 22: Nutritional ecology.
Amounts based nutritional geometry WILD: Target selection and rules of compromise.
Determining intake targets
• Borneo orangutan - Mostly Eat fruit which has low P:C and leaves which have high P:C. They use
complementary feeding to balance their nutrients and reach their intake target. Males were
found to have a higher P:C than females due to them needing extra muscle mass to attract
females. Pregnant female sometimes doesn’t meet the target intake, so compensated for this
the next day by overeating on what she missed out on.
• Chacma baboons - Plotting the cumulative diet showed a very strong linear nutritional rail
therefore showing strong evidence for target selection.
Determining rules of compromise
• Peruvian spider monkey - Prioritise protein very tightly.
• Mountain Gorilla - Eat fruits and leaves when fruits are available (Low P:NP) or only leaves when
fruits unavailable (High P:NP) - showed a horizontal nutritional rail. Therefore, they prioritise
non-protein nutrients.
• Borneo orangutan – Using high, low and medium fruit availability, they are seen to prioritise
protein.
• Sifaka lemurs – In differing habitats with different food availability. When it is low season (high
protein, low carbs) they eat up to the end of the carbs rail, then switch to protein rail. However,
they will eat less overall in order to maintain as close as they can to the target level. When it is
high season they are able to reach their intake target.
Document Summary
Determining intake targets: borneo orangutan - mostly eat fruit which has low p:c and leaves which have high p:c. they use complementary feeding to balance their nutrients and reach their intake target. Males were found to have a higher p:c than females due to them needing extra muscle mass to attract females. Therefore, they prioritise non-protein nutrients: borneo orangutan using high, low and medium fruit availability, they are seen to prioritise protein, sifaka lemurs in differing habitats with different food availability. When it is low season (high protein, low carbs) they eat up to the end of the carbs rail, then switch to protein rail. However, they will eat less overall in order to maintain as close as they can to the target level.
