Diet breadth of mammalian herbivores: nutrient versus detoxification constraints

@article{Dearing2000DietBO,
  title={Diet breadth of mammalian herbivores: nutrient versus detoxification constraints},
  author={M. Denise Dearing and Antonio Marcelo Mangione and William H. Karasov},
  journal={Oecologia},
  year={2000},
  volume={123},
  pages={397-405},
  url={https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:914899}
}
The results suggest that in this system, specialists detoxify plantsecondary compounds differently than generalists and plant secondary compounds may be more important than low nutrient levels in maintaining dietary diversity in generalist herbivores.
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163 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
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Background Citations
72
Methods Citations
11
Results Citations
6

163 Citations

Using the Specialization Framework to Determine Degree of Dietary Specialization in a Herbivorous Woodrat

Behavior and habitat differences between these woodrat species lead to the categorization of N. stephensi as an obligate juniper specialist with a small range that overlaps that of its preferred food, J. monosperma, and N. lepida as a facultative juniper Specialist with a large range, and only a portion of its distribution containing populations that feed extensively on J. osteos perma.

Physiological limitations of dietary specialization in herbivorous woodrats (Neotoma spp.)

Behavioral Responses of a Generalist Mammalian Folivore to the Physiological Constraints of a Chemically Defended Diet

It is argued that frequently switching between chemically diverse foliage reduces the physiological constraints imposed by a PSM-rich diet and enables more efficient feeding and support for predictions of the detoxification–limitation hypothesis is suggested.

Elimination of plant toxins by herbivorous woodrats: revisiting an explanation for dietary specialization in mammalian herbivores

It is suggested that the lower exposure level of specialist woodrats may be due to mechanisms in the gut that decrease toxin absorption, which may allow specialists to forage on diets with high toxin concentrations thereby facilitating dietary specialization.

PLANT SECONDARY METABOLITES COMPROMISE THE ENERGY BUDGETS OF SPECIALIST AND GENERALIST MAMMALIAN HERBIVORES

The results suggest that the intake of PSMs impinges on AMEI and compromises energy ex- penditure, but that the impact of PS Ms on energy budgets is relative to ecological experience with PSMs.

Strategies in herbivory by mammals revisited: The role of liver metabolism in a juniper specialist (Neotoma stephensi) and a generalist (Neotoma albigula)

The ability of N. stephensi to elevate CYP2B concentration and rate of α‐pinene metabolism with increasing levels of juniper in the diet may facilitate juniper specialization in this species.

Differential regulation of plant secondary compounds by herbivorous rodents

Analysis of ingestive behaviour of two species of rodents suggests that the differences in foraging behaviour may be correlated with diet content and biotransformation capacity and support for the hypotheses that generalist herbivores can and do behaviourally regulate PSC intake.

Dietary partitioning of toxic leaves and fibrous stems differs between sympatric specialist and generalist mammalian herbivores

Although partitioning of stems and leaves within sagebrush plants may provide a mechanism for coexistence of specialist and generalist rabbits, higher-than-expected dietary overlap between both free-ranging and captive rabbits in winter might create resource competition in areas with high-density sympatric populations or low availability of sagebrush.

Testing the diet-breadth trade-off hypothesis: differential regulation of novel plant secondary compounds by a specialist and a generalist herbivore

Comparing the feeding behavior of two herbivorous rodents provides evidence for the hypothesis that the specialist’s foraging strategy may result in behavioral as well as physiological trade-offs in the ability to consume novel PSCs.

Preferences of Specialist and Generalist Mammalian Herbivores for Mixtures Versus Individual Plant Secondary Metabolites

In vivo and in vitro results add to existing evidence that detoxification capacity is higher in dietary specialist than generalist herbivores and suggest that alternative mechanisms such as absorption and the pharmacological action of individual or mixtures of PSMs may play a role in determining preference of PSM within herbivore species.
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27 References

Strategies in Herbivory by Mammals: The Role of Plant Secondary Compounds

Large herbivores must select food from a wide variety of plant parts, species, and strains, and should prefer to feed on foods that contain small amounts of secondary compounds, and their body size and searching strategies should be adapted to optimize the number of types of foods available.

Testing models of optimal diet assembly by the generalist herbivorous lizard Cnemidophorus murinus

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It is clear from the analysis that body mass is of critical importance in influencing fibre fermentation, actual ecological or evolutionary implications are more difficult to assess.

INTERPOPULATION DIFFERENCES IN TOLERANCE TO CREOSOTE BUSH RESIN IN DESERT WOODRATS (NEOTOMA LEPIDA)

Woodrats appear to be a promising natural system to study the developmental or genetic factors underlying vertebrate adaptation to plant secondary metabolites.

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Part of plants with high soluble-carbohydrate content and short-handling times were selected by cotton rats ; however, these same parts of plants typically were low in protein and phosphorus content.

FOLIAR CONCENTRATION OF A SINGLE TOXIN CREATES HABITAT PATCHINESS FOR A MARSUPIAL FOLIVORE

It is concluded that significant patchiness in nutritional quality of foliage, resulting from variation in foliar concentrations of a single compound, exists at a scale relevant to the feeding decisions of individual animals.

Reproduction in Stephens' Woodrat: The Wages of Folivory

It is hypothesized that the major selective force is this woodrat's dietary specialization on juniper foliage, a food rich in defensive, digestibility-reducing chemicals, which may allow females to maximize milk production, growth rates and survival of her young, and, by minimizing lactation weight losses and the time necessary to regain weight, may shorten the interval between litters.

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