| ResearchGate | https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Hansraj-Gautam |
| https://twitter.com/Elephanseco |
Happy to share the first preprint from my postdoc at NCBS, Bangalore.
We focus on a fundamental question in elephant #ecology 🌳🌱🐘🐘🌿🌾:
Should #elephants graze or browse? The nutritional and functional consequences of dietary variation in a mixed-feeding megaherbivore
In this study on feeding #ecology of Asian #elephants, we show that browsing levels in #forest habitats are higher than in mesic #savanna where grazing predominates (due to grass abundance).
We hypothesize that this dietary variation may influence top-down effects of elephants on #woody #vegetation and aboveground #carbon in the habitats of Asian elephants.
Mixed feeding large #herbivores consume 100s of both grass and browse species
Here, we revisited a long-standing debate on whether browse is nutritonally more important for #elephants (as browse is thought to contain high crude protein).
By analyzing carbon isotopes and nutrients in elephant fecal samples, we show that
1) high-browsing diets do not provide higher crude protein content for Asian elephants
and
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.11.13.622959v1 #ecology
In this study on feeding #ecology of Asian #elephants, we show that browsing levels in #forest habitats are higher than in mesic #savanna where grazing predominates (due to grass abundance).
We hypothesize that this dietary variation may influence top-down effects of elephants on #woody #vegetation and aboveground #carbon in the habitats of Asian elephants.
2) this trend of similar nutritional value of #elephant browse and grass foods is generalizable, as our analyses of nutrients in elephant food plants shows that browse is not necessarily a better source of crude protein than grasses
#preprint #ecology
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.11.13.622959v1
2) this trend of similar nutritional value of #elephant browse and grass foods is generalizable, as our analyses of nutrients in elephant food plants shows that browse is not necessarily a better source of crude protein than grasses
#preprint #ecology
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.11.13.622959v1
Mixed feeding large #herbivores consume 100s of both grass and browse species
Here, we revisited a long-standing debate on whether browse is nutritonally more important for #elephants (as browse is thought to contain high crude protein).
By analyzing carbon isotopes and nutrients in elephant fecal samples, we show that
1) high-browsing diets do not provide higher crude protein content for Asian elephants
and
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.11.13.622959v1 #ecology
Happy to share the first preprint from my postdoc at NCBS, Bangalore.
We focus on a fundamental question in elephant #ecology 🌳🌱🐘🐘🌿🌾:
Should #elephants graze or browse? The nutritional and functional consequences of dietary variation in a mixed-feeding megaherbivore
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