Literaturdatenbank
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Bouchard, S. S., & Bjorndal, K. A. (2002). Diet selection in the slider turtle, trachemys scripta: ontogenetic shifts and associative effects between plant and animal diet items. 10th Annual Florida Ecological and Evolutionary Symposium Abstracts.
Added by: Admin (14 Aug 2008 20:35:25 UTC) |
| Resource type: Journal Article BibTeX citation key: Bouchard2002 View all bibliographic details  |
Categories: General Keywords: Emydidae, Ernährung = nutrition, Morphologie = morphology, Schildkröten = turtles + tortoises, Trachemys, Trachemys scripta, Veterinärmedizin = veterinary medicine Creators: Bjorndal, Bouchard Collection: 10th Annual Florida Ecological and Evolutionary Symposium Abstracts |
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| Abstract |
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The yellow-bellied slider, Trachemys scripta, like several other species of freshwater turtle, exhibits an ontogenetic diet shift from carnivory to herbivory as it grows and matures. Both ecological factors, such as habitat selection and food availability, and physiological factors, such as metabolic requirements and gut capacity, have been proposed to explain this shift. The purpose of this study was to examine in detail the physiological factors that may play a role. We conducted a series of feeding trials in which we fed juvenile and adult turtles plant, animal, and mixed diets. To compare digestive processing between age classes, we measured intake, digestibility, and passage rate in juvenile and adult turtles fed each diet. We also measured gut morphology of both age classes on each diet. Finally, we compared the condition (e.g. lipid, protein, and mineral composition) of juveniles raised on each diet to evaluate potential costs of plant and animal diets for growing individuals. We found that both juveniles and adults processed plant diets differently than animal diets. Additionally, juveniles and adults processed the same diets differently from each other. In general, juveniles raised on the animal diet were in better condition than those raised on the plant diet. However, juveniles raised on the mixed diet were in slightly worse condition than those raised on plants. This is probably due to a negative interaction between plant and animal diet items. That is, when plant and animal diet items are fed together, they are processed less efficiently than when they are fed alone.
Added by: Admin |