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Seasonal shifts in pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana) diets under a new lens: Examining diet composition using a molecular technique

Foraging is one of the most fundamental activities contributing to the maximization of an animal’s fitness, and thus herbivores must optimize their diet selection and intake to meet their nutrient demands for survival, growth, and reproduction. Using plant DNA barcoding, we determined diet compositi...

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Autores principales: Bleke, Cole A., Gese, Eric M., Roberts, Shane B., Villalba, Juan J.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10566741/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37819912
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0292725
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author Bleke, Cole A.
Gese, Eric M.
Roberts, Shane B.
Villalba, Juan J.
author_facet Bleke, Cole A.
Gese, Eric M.
Roberts, Shane B.
Villalba, Juan J.
author_sort Bleke, Cole A.
collection PubMed
description Foraging is one of the most fundamental activities contributing to the maximization of an animal’s fitness, and thus herbivores must optimize their diet selection and intake to meet their nutrient demands for survival, growth, and reproduction. Using plant DNA barcoding, we determined diet composition of five subpopulations of adult female pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana) grazing rangelands in southern and southeastern Idaho, USA. Fecal samples were collected for two years (2018–2019), and across metabolically-important adult female life history stages (late gestation, early lactation, breeding season). Plant DNA barcoding yielded 137 detected species within pronghorn diets across subpopulations and sampling periods with forbs being the most abundant. Pronghorn dietary functional group composition ranged from 52.2–60.3% from forbs followed by shrubs (22.6–28.2%), graminoids (8.7–15.7%), and legumes (5.5–9.6%). Dietary protein intake was also highest from forbs and ranged from 32.4–62.4% followed by graminoids (1.2–43.1%), shrubs (18.7–21.3%), and legumes (2.6–7.4%). We found significant intra- and interannual differences in the mean number of genera-based plant detections in pronghorn diets. Dietary protein intake of cultivated legumes (e.g., alfalfa [Medicago sativa] and sainfoin [Onobrychis viciifolia]) was lower than expected, ranging from <1.0–30.8%, suggesting that even within an agricultural-dominated landscape, factors other than plant nutritional composition contributed to pronghorn diets. Although the plant DNA barcoding technique exhibits limitations, it demonstrated potential for elucidating pronghorn dietary species richness, particularly for plants consumed in small proportions, as well as for observing temporal fluctuations in functional group composition and dietary protein intake explained through the interplay between environmental factors, plant chemical composition, and the animals’ physiological needs.
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spelling pubmed-105667412023-10-12 Seasonal shifts in pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana) diets under a new lens: Examining diet composition using a molecular technique Bleke, Cole A. Gese, Eric M. Roberts, Shane B. Villalba, Juan J. PLoS One Research Article Foraging is one of the most fundamental activities contributing to the maximization of an animal’s fitness, and thus herbivores must optimize their diet selection and intake to meet their nutrient demands for survival, growth, and reproduction. Using plant DNA barcoding, we determined diet composition of five subpopulations of adult female pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana) grazing rangelands in southern and southeastern Idaho, USA. Fecal samples were collected for two years (2018–2019), and across metabolically-important adult female life history stages (late gestation, early lactation, breeding season). Plant DNA barcoding yielded 137 detected species within pronghorn diets across subpopulations and sampling periods with forbs being the most abundant. Pronghorn dietary functional group composition ranged from 52.2–60.3% from forbs followed by shrubs (22.6–28.2%), graminoids (8.7–15.7%), and legumes (5.5–9.6%). Dietary protein intake was also highest from forbs and ranged from 32.4–62.4% followed by graminoids (1.2–43.1%), shrubs (18.7–21.3%), and legumes (2.6–7.4%). We found significant intra- and interannual differences in the mean number of genera-based plant detections in pronghorn diets. Dietary protein intake of cultivated legumes (e.g., alfalfa [Medicago sativa] and sainfoin [Onobrychis viciifolia]) was lower than expected, ranging from <1.0–30.8%, suggesting that even within an agricultural-dominated landscape, factors other than plant nutritional composition contributed to pronghorn diets. Although the plant DNA barcoding technique exhibits limitations, it demonstrated potential for elucidating pronghorn dietary species richness, particularly for plants consumed in small proportions, as well as for observing temporal fluctuations in functional group composition and dietary protein intake explained through the interplay between environmental factors, plant chemical composition, and the animals’ physiological needs. Public Library of Science 2023-10-11 /pmc/articles/PMC10566741/ /pubmed/37819912 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0292725 Text en https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) public domain dedication.
spellingShingle Research Article
Bleke, Cole A.
Gese, Eric M.
Roberts, Shane B.
Villalba, Juan J.
Seasonal shifts in pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana) diets under a new lens: Examining diet composition using a molecular technique
title Seasonal shifts in pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana) diets under a new lens: Examining diet composition using a molecular technique
title_full Seasonal shifts in pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana) diets under a new lens: Examining diet composition using a molecular technique
title_fullStr Seasonal shifts in pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana) diets under a new lens: Examining diet composition using a molecular technique
title_full_unstemmed Seasonal shifts in pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana) diets under a new lens: Examining diet composition using a molecular technique
title_short Seasonal shifts in pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana) diets under a new lens: Examining diet composition using a molecular technique
title_sort seasonal shifts in pronghorn antelope (antilocapra americana) diets under a new lens: examining diet composition using a molecular technique
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10566741/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37819912
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0292725
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