Literaturdatenbank
Literaturdatenbank |
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Jennings, B. W. (2002). Diet selection by the desert tortoise in relation to the flowering phenology of ephemeral plants. Chelonian Conservation and Biology, 4(2), 353–358.
Added by: Admin (14 Aug 2008 20:35:28 UTC) |
| Resource type: Journal Article BibTeX citation key: Jennings2002 View all bibliographic details  |
Categories: General Keywords: Ernährung = nutrition, Gopherus, Gopherus agassizii, Habitat = habitat, Nordamerika = North America, Schildkröten = turtles + tortoises, Testudinidae Creators: Jennings Collection: Chelonian Conservation and Biology |
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| Abstract |
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Gopherus agassizii Testudinidae During spring 1992 in the western Mojave Desert, California, I measured desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) diet and monitored the flowering phenology of all study site plants. Rainfall between January and March 1992 was well above average and nearly all plant species from the area flowered. Although tortoises ate at least 44 plant species, only 10 species comprised 81.4% of their diet. These preferred plants flowered at different times, which led to much temporal variability in tortoise diet. Tortoises preferred succulent to dry plants, and selected plants during certain phenological states, suggesting that plant palatability varied with phenological state. Tortoises selectively ate plant parts (e.g., leaves or flowers) suggesting that plant parts differed in palatability and/or nutrition. Although the nutritional importance of these preferred plants has yet to be demonstrated, the loss or diminished abundance of native plants through replacement by exotic species may adversely affect tortoise nutrition and conservation.
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