Literaturdatenbank
Literaturdatenbank |
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Meek, R. (2010). Nutritional selection in hermann’s tortoise, testudo hermanni, in montenegro and croatia. BCG Testudo, 7(2), 88–95.
Added by: Sarina Wunderlich (30 Oct 2011 14:52:38 UTC) |
| Resource type: Journal Article BibTeX citation key: Meek2010 View all bibliographic details  |
Categories: General Keywords: Ernährung = nutrition, Habitat = habitat, Schildkröten = turtles + tortoises, Südosteuropa = South-Eastern Europe, Testudinidae, Testudo, Testudo hermanni Creators: Meek Collection: BCG Testudo |
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| Abstract |
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Testudinidae Information on the composition of natural diets in animals can provide insight into a species’ role in an ecosystem and contribute to effective captive husbandry and breeding programmes. Under natural conditions, a critical aspect of nutritional behaviour is the level of energy expended to access food resources, which may vary depending on whether a species is a dietary generalist or specialist. For example, in herbivorous reptiles a generalist feeder will usually select a range of plants to satisfy overall dietary requirements, whilst a specialist may have to forage widely for a more limited food plant range (review in Stephens & Krebs, 1986). Additionally, herbivores must also be aware of plants that contain toxic substances, which if consumed, at the very least, may impose costs for digestion (Freeland & Janzen, 1974). Such plants are usually avoided but this is not always the case, particularly if they contain essential nutrients (Zahorik & Haupt, 1977). Foraging theory has sought to explain dietary behaviour in animals, but was concerned mainly with insectivorous lizards and birds (MacArthur & Pianka, 1966) – it is less easily applied to herbivorous tortoises, where diets are more in terms of selection of a mixture of nutrients. However, one of the advantages of the theory is that it allows predictions to be tested in a somewhat subjective area of ecology and enables insight into interspecific differences in dietary behaviour. The nutritional behaviour of Hermann’s tortoise Testudo hermanni has received limited attention in field studies, particularly in respect to defining the degree of dietary specialisation or generalisation. The purpose of this paper is to provide baseline information on dietary selection and test for dietary strategy.
Added by: Sarina Wunderlich |