Seasonal-Variation in Water Flux, Field Metabolic-Rate and Food-Consumption of Free-Ranging Koalas (Phascolarctos-Cinereus)

1995 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 59 ◽  
Author(s):  
WAH Ellis ◽  
A Melzer ◽  
B Green ◽  
K Newgrain ◽  
MA Hindell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seasonal Changes ◽  
Water Flux ◽  
Energy Requirements ◽  
Metabolic Rates ◽  
Feeding Rates ◽  
Phascolarctos Cinereus ◽  
Water Influx ◽  
Eucalyptus Crebra ◽  
Field Metabolic Rates ◽  
Free Ranging

Mass-corrected field metabolic rates of free-ranging male koalas in central Queensland, Australia, varied between 0.329 MJ kg0.75 day-1 in summer and 0.382 MJ kg0.75 day-1 in winter. Field water influx measured 50.8 mL kg-0.8 day-1 in winter, increasing to 59.9 mL kg0.8 day-1 in summer for the same koalas, and was positively correlated with values for leaf moisture of food. Winter rates of water influx for koalas from Springsure were lower than those recorded for koalas from Victoria for the same period of the year. Mass-corrected feeding rates were lower in summer than winter; wet food intake was significantly lower than reported for similar sized female koalas from Victoria. The preferred browse was Eucalyptus crebra in winter and E. tereticornis in summer. Our study indicates that in central Queensland seasonal changes in diet selection by male koalas reflect increased energy requirements in winter and increased water requirements in summer.

Field Metabolic Rates, Water Fluxes, and Feeding Rates of Quokkas, Setonix-Brachyurus, and Tammars, Macropus-Eugenii, in Western-Australia

1989 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 553 ◽  
Author(s):  
KA Nagy ◽  
AJ Bradley ◽  
KD Morris
Keyword(s):  
Water Intake ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Feeding Rate ◽  
Metabolic Rates ◽  
Feeding Rates ◽  
Total Water ◽  
Water Influx ◽  
Field Metabolic Rates ◽  
Free Ranging ◽  
Total Water Intake

Field metabolic rates (FMRS) and water influx rates were measured by means of doubly labelled water in free-ranging quokkas living on Rottnest I, and free-ranging tammar wallabies living on Garden I. Feeding rates were estimated from energy requirements. Quokkas ranging in body mass from 1.44 to 2.83 kg (mean 1.90 kg) had FMRS averaging 0.574 mL C02 (g.h)-', which is equivalent to 548 kJ d-'. Their rates of total water intake averaged 47.3 mL (kg.d)-', or 90.5 mL d-'. Estimated feeding rate was 54.8 g (dry matter) per day, and water ingested as part of the food (preformed and metabolically produced) can completely account for total water intake. We believe that quokkas did not drink water during our field measurements. Tammars ranging in body mass from 3.20 to 6.35 kg (mean 4.38 kg) had FMRS averaging 0.518 mL CO2 (g.h)-', which is equivalent to 1150 kJ d-'. Their rates of water influx averaged 57.5 mL (kg.d)-', or 270 mL d-', and their estimated feeding rate was 115 g (dry matter) per day. Tammars also probably did not drink free-standing water during our study. FMRs of quokkas averaged 1 .80 x basal metabolic rate (BMR), and FMRS of tammars averaged 1.87 x BMR; this difference is not significant. We estimate that the 5000 quokkas on Rottnest I. consume at least 100 000 kg of plant matter (dry mass) per year, and the 2173 tammars on Garden I. ingest more than 90 000 kg. Measurements of food availability are needed to permit evaluation of the relationship between food supply and demand for these two populations of macropod marsupials.

Field Metabolic-Rate and Food Requirement of a Small Dasyurid Marsupial, Sminthopsis-Crassicaudata

1988 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 293 ◽  
Author(s):  
KA Nagy ◽  
AK Lee ◽  
RW Martin ◽  
MR Fleming
Keyword(s):  
Metabolic Rate ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Water Flux ◽  
Metabolic Rates ◽  
Feeding Rates ◽  
Doubly Labelled Water ◽  
Sminthopsis Crassicaudata ◽  
Food Requirement ◽  
Field Metabolic Rates ◽  
Free Ranging

Field metabolic rates (FMRs) and rates of water flux in free-ranging fat-tailed dunnarts, Sminthopsis crassicaudata, were measured during spring (late October) using doubly labelled water. Feeding rates were estimated on the basis of water and energy fluxes. FMRs averaged 68.7 kJ d-' in adults (mean body mass= 16.6 g), and were 29.2 kJ d-' in juveniles (6.1 g). These FMRs are 6.6 times basal metabolic rate (BMR), and are much higher than the hypothetical maxima of four to five times BMR. Other dasyurid marsupials also have high FMR/BMR ratios, but so does a small petaurid marsupial. S. crassicaudata consumed 80-90% of its body mass in arthropods each day. The diet of arthropods apparently provided enough water for the animals to maintain water balance without drinking during this study.

Field Metabolic Rate, Water Flux, Food Consumption and Time Budget of Koalas, Phascolarctos Cinereus (Marsupialia: Phascolarctidae) in Victoria.

1985 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 655 ◽  
Author(s):  
KA Nagy ◽  
RW Martin
Keyword(s):  
Metabolic Rate ◽  
Food Consumption ◽  
Time Budget ◽  
Metabolic Rates ◽  
Feeding Rates ◽  
Influx Rate ◽  
Phascolarctos Cinereus ◽  
Water Influx ◽  
Dry Food ◽  
Field Metabolic Rates

Doubly labelled water measurements in free-ranging adult koalas (9.2 kg) indicated that field metabolic rates averaged 0.434 ml CO2 g-�h-� (equivalent to 2090 kJ per animal per day, or 2.59 X basal metabolic rate). Females (7.8 kg) had significantly higher mass-specific metabolic rates than males (10.8 kg). Percentage apparent assimilation of dietary substances was 56% for dry matter, 52% for energy, 32% for nitrogen, and 66% for water. Feeding rates were about 222 g dry food per animal per day (equivalent to 510 g fresh food per animal per day) in both sexes. However, males had a higher water influx rate (475 ml per animal per day) than females (358 ml per animal per day), suggesting either that males selected more succulent food than females, or that males drank rainwater but females did not. Koalas consumed about twice as much dietary nitrogen as they required for maintenance. They maintained constant body masses, and (presumably) had balanced energy, water and nitrogen budgets during our 20-day study, while eating Eucalyptus ovata foliage. Koalas spent about 4.7 h eating, 4 min travelling, 4.8 h resting while awake and 14.5 h sleeping in a 24-h period. Their activity periods were not obviously restricted to periods of daylight or darkness, but were scattered through the 24 hours. In comparison with free-living, three-toed sloths Bradypus variegatus (4.08 kg) in central America, koalas had significantly higher mass-corrected field metabolic rates (391 kJ kg-0.75 day-� for koalas v.209 for sloths), water influx rates (69.9 ml kg-0.80 day-� for koalas v. 49.8 for sloths), and feeding rates (42.7 g dry food kg-0.75 day-� for koalas v. 21.2 for sloths). Unlike sloths, koalas did not bask in the morning sunshine, and one telemetered koala had a relatively constant body temperature over 24 h (c. 36�C), compared with daily variations between 30 and 38�C in sloths. Population food consumption (g dry food consumed ha-� day-�) was greater for koalas (681 v. 378 for sloths), and koalas consumed most of the leaf production of their preferred food species, E. ovata, which resulted in extensive defoliation of these trees. Although there is similarity in the ecological roles of koalas and sloths, their physiology and behaviour differ substantially.

Comparative Field Energetics of Two Macropod Marsupials and a Ruminant.

1990 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 591 ◽  
Author(s):  
KA Nagy ◽  
GD Sanson ◽  
NK Jacobsen
Keyword(s):  
Feeding Rate ◽  
Energy Content ◽  
Metabolizable Energy ◽  
Ecological Modelling ◽  
Feeding Rates ◽  
Doubly Labelled Water ◽  
Water Influx ◽  
Scaling Relationship ◽  
Field Metabolic Rates ◽  
Free Ranging

Field metabolic rates (FMRs) and water influx rates were measured via the doubly labelled water method in wild Tasmanian pademelons and grey kangaroos living in the Jock Marshall Reserve at Clayton, Victoria, and in wild black-tailed deer free-ranging within a nature reserve at Davis, California. Deer expended more than 3 times more energy per day than similar sized grey kangaroos. Feeding rates required to achieve energy balance were estimated from FMRs along with an estimate of metabolizable energy content of the food. The estimated feeding rates for pademelons and kangaroos were combined with similar values for 5 other species of macropods to calculate an allometric (scaling) relationship for food requirements of macropod marsupials. Feeding rate had the following relationship to body mass: g food (DM) consumed per day = 0.20 g body mass0.79 (r2 = 0.94). The findings reported herein should be useful for predicting the approximate food requirements of free-ranging macropods and deer for purposes of ecological modelling, conservation efforts and management programmes.

Field Energetics and Water Balance of Sugar Gliders, Petaurus Breviceps (Marsupialia:Petauridae).

1985 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 683 ◽  
Author(s):  
KA Nagy ◽  
GC Suckling
Keyword(s):  
Dry Mass ◽  
The Other ◽  
Metabolic Rates ◽  
Doubly Labelled Water ◽  
Water Influx ◽  
Acacia Gum ◽  
Field Metabolic Rates ◽  
Petaurus Breviceps ◽  
Free Ranging ◽  
Mass Basis

Doubly labelled water measurements in free-ranging sugar gliders (Petaurus breviceps) weighing 121 g indicated that field metabolic rates (FMRS) averaged 62.5 litres CO2/kg daily, equivalent to 169 kJ per animal daily (3.8 times basal metabolic rate). The females, most of which had small pouch young, weighed significantly less than males (112 g compared with 135 g), but mass-specific FMRS did not differ significantly between sexes. Rates of water influx (mass-specific) also did not differ between sexes, and were 208 ml/kg daily. The diet consisted of about two-thirds acacia gum, one-third mixed arthropods and traces of bark (on a dry mass basis). Apparent assimilation of dietary substances was 88% for DM, 89% for energy, 86% for nitrogen and 61% for water. Gliders consumed 11.2 g DM of food daily. The diet contained 44% water (fresh mass basis), and provided about half of the water gliders obtained. The other half presumably was ingested as rainwater. In comparison with the ecologically similar Leadbeater's possums (129 g), sugar gliders had lower metabolic rates while active outside their nests (17.4 compared with 31.4 kJ/h for the possums), primarily because possums spent energy for activity 2.5 times faster than did sugar gliders. This suggests that gliding affords sugar gliders a considerable energetic saving, but portion of time abroad spent foraging and resting, and distribution, abundance and predictability of food resources may also account for this difference.

Field Metabolic-Rate, Water Flux, and Food-Requirements of Short-Nosed Bandicoots, Isoodon-Obesulus (Marsupialia, Peramelidae)

1991 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 299 ◽  
Author(s):  
KA Nagy ◽  
SD Bradshaw ◽  
BT Clay
Keyword(s):  
Metabolic Rate ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Produced Water ◽  
Water Flux ◽  
Pond Water ◽  
Doubly Labelled Water ◽  
Fresh Matter ◽  
Water Influx ◽  
Study Population ◽  
Field Metabolic Rates

Field metabolic rates (FMRS) and water influx rates of free-living short-nosed bandicoots (Isoodon obesulus) were measured via the doubly labelled water technique. Bandicoots ranging in body mass from 775 to 1825 g (mean = 1230 g) had FMRS averaging 0.908 mL CO2 g-1 h-1, or 644 kJ d-1. This is about 2.7 times predicted basal metabolic rate. Water influx rates during the autumn measurement period were comparatively low, averaging 88.8 mL kg-1 d-1, or 103 mL d-1 for a 1230 g animal. Feeding rate (dry matter intake) was estimated to be 45 g d-1, assuming that the food was half invertebrates and half plant tissues (dry matter basis). Performed and metabolically produced water from the food can completely account for total water intake, indicating that bandicoots did not drink the rainwater or pond water that was available. The study population (estimated density = 0.63 bandicoots ha-1) consumed food at a rate of about 62 g fresh matter ha-1 d-1 (equivalent to 27 g dry matter or 605 kJ ha-1 d-1), which is similar to the food requirements of populations of small eutherian and marsupial insectivores in other habitats.

Seasonal Changes in Water Flux, Forage Intake, and Assimilated Energy of Free-Ranging Muskrats

1998 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin L. Campbell ◽  
Gillian L. Weseen ◽  
Robert A. MacArthur
Keyword(s):  
Seasonal Changes ◽  
Water Flux ◽  
Forage Intake ◽  
Free Ranging

scholarly journals Accounting for body mass effects in the estimation of field metabolic rates from body acceleration

2021 ◽  
pp. jeb.233544
Author(s):  
Evan E. Byrnes ◽  
Karissa O. Lear ◽  
Lauran R. Brewster ◽  
Nicholas M. Whitney ◽  
Matthew J. Smukall ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass ◽  
Predictive Models ◽  
Scale Dependence ◽  
Metabolic Rates ◽  
Body Acceleration ◽  
Mass Effects ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
Field Metabolic Rates ◽  
Free Ranging ◽  
Modelling Process

Dynamic Body Acceleration (DBA), measured through animal-attached tags, has emerged as a powerful method for estimating field metabolic rates of free-ranging individuals. Following respirometry to calibrate oxygen consumption rate (MO2) with DBA under controlled conditions, predictive models can be applied to DBA data collected from free-ranging individuals. However, laboratory calibrations are generally performed on a relatively narrow size range of animals, which may introduce biases if predictive models are applied to differently sized individuals in the field. Here, we tested the mass dependence of the DBA-MO2 relationship to develop an experimental framework for the estimation of field metabolic rates when organisms differ in size. We performed respirometry experiments with individuals spanning one order of magnitude in body mass (1.74–17.15 kg) and used a two-stage modelling process to assess the intraspecific scale dependence of the MO2-DBA relationship and incorporate such dependencies into the coefficients of MO2 predictive models. The final predictive model showed scale dependence; the slope of the MO2-DBA relationship was strongly allometric (M1.55), whereas the intercept term scaled closer to isometry (M1.08). Using bootstrapping and simulations, we evaluated the performance of this coefficient-corrected model against commonly used methods of accounting for mass effects on the MO2-DBA relationship and found the lowest error and bias in the coefficient-corrected approach. The strong scale dependence of the MO2-DBA relationship indicates that caution must be exercised when models developed using one size class are applied to individuals of different sizes.

Seasonal energetics of the long-nosed bandicoot (Perameles nasuta) in coastal New South Wales

2003 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Thums ◽  
Ian D. Hume ◽  
Lesley A. Gibson
Keyword(s):  
Seasonal Changes ◽  
Turnover Rate ◽  
Arid Zone ◽  
New South ◽  
Metabolic Rates ◽  
Turnover Rates ◽  
Water Turnover ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Lactating Females ◽  
Field Metabolic Rates

Water-turnover rates and field metabolic rates were measured in long-nosed bandicoots (Perameles nasuta) near Newcastle, New South Wales, over two summers and two winters. Water-turnover rates were higher in lactating than in non-lactating females, and higher in winter than in summer, possibly because of a relatively high proportion (50%) of females at or near peak lactation in one winter. There were no significant differences in field metabolic rates between seasons or among groups (males, lactating females and non-lactating females). The overall field metabolic rate of the long-nosed bandicoot was within 9% of the predicted value for a marsupial of its size, and similar to rates reported for most other bandicoots, both temperate and arid-zone species. Its overall water-turnover rate was within 18% of the predicted marsupial value, but higher than values reported for arid-zone bandicoot species. Comparison with other data indicates that seasonal changes in water-turnover rate are related to changes in reproductive status (especially lactation), as in this study, but for field metabolic rate, seasonal changes are related to changes in water status and thus productivity of the environment.

Energy and Water Metabolism in Free-Living Greater Gliders, Petauroides-Volans

1990 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
WJ Foley ◽  
JC Kehl ◽  
KA Nagy ◽  
IR Kaplan ◽  
AC Borsboom
Keyword(s):  
Metabolic Rate ◽  
Water Flux ◽  
Energy Losses ◽  
Water Metabolism ◽  
Free Living ◽  
Doubly Labelled Water ◽  
Eucalypt Forest ◽  
Water Influx ◽  
Gross Energy ◽  
Field Metabolic Rates

Water flux and metabolic rate were measured using a low-level, doubly-labelled water technique in eight free-living greater gliders, Petauroides volans which were maintaining constant body masses at about 1 kg in eucalypt forest near Maryborough, Queensland. Mean water influx was 88.0�3.2 mL d-' and mean metabolic rate was 25.1 L C02 d-' or 520 kJ d-'. These arboreal folivores have field metabolic rates and water influx rates that are 96% and 71% respectively of those predicted for a herbivorous marsupial of their body mass. Assuming that faecal energy losses were 43% of gross energy intakes and that urinary energy losses were 15% of digestible energy intakes, the gross energy intake of the animals was about 1130 kJ d-'. Animals would need to eat between 45 and 50 g of dry matter daily to satisfy these energy requirements. Based on these results, a preliminary energy budget for greater gliders has been proposed.

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