| Title |
Why should a grazer browse? Livestock impact on winter resource use by bharal Pseudois nayaur
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Oecologia, September 2009
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s00442-009-1467-x |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Kulbhushansingh Ramesh Suryawanshi, Yash Veer Bhatnagar, Charudutt Mishra |
| Abstract |
Many mammalian herbivores show a temporal diet variation between graminoid-dominated and browse-dominated diets. We determined the causes of such a diet shift and its implications for conservation of a medium-sized ungulate-the bharal Pseudois nayaur. Past studies show that the bharal diet is dominated by graminoids (>80%) during summer, but the contribution of graminoids declines to about 50% in winter. We tested the predictions generated by two alternative hypotheses explaining the decline: low graminoid availability during winter causes bharal to include browse in their diet; bharal include browse, with relatively higher nutritional quality, in their diet to compensate for the poor quality of graminoids during winter. We measured winter graminoid availability in areas with no livestock grazing, areas with relatively moderate livestock grazing, and those with intense livestock grazing pressures. The chemical composition of plants contributing to the bharal diet was analysed. The bharal diet was quantified through signs of feeding on vegetation at feeding locations. Population structures of bharal populations were recorded using a total count method. Graminoid availability was highest in areas without livestock grazing, followed by areas with moderate and intense livestock grazing. The bharal diet was dominated by graminoids (73%) in areas with highest graminoid availability. Graminoid contribution to the bharal diet declined monotonically (50, 36%) with a decline in graminoid availability. Bharal young to female ratio was 3 times higher in areas with high graminoid availability than areas with low graminoid availability. The composition of the bharal winter diet was governed predominantly by the availability of graminoids in the rangelands. Our results suggest that bharal include more browse in their diet during winter due to competition from livestock for graminoids. Since livestock grazing reduces graminoid availability, creation of livestock-free areas is necessary for the conservation of grazing species such as the bharal and its predators including the endangered snow leopard in the Trans-Himalaya. |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 142 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| India | 7 | 5% |
| China | 3 | 2% |
| Argentina | 2 | 1% |
| Austria | 1 | <1% |
| New Zealand | 1 | <1% |
| Kenya | 1 | <1% |
| Nepal | 1 | <1% |
| United States | 1 | <1% |
| Unknown | 125 | 88% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 29 | 20% |
| Researcher | 28 | 20% |
| Student > Master | 26 | 18% |
| Student > Bachelor | 9 | 6% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 7 | 5% |
| Other | 20 | 14% |
| Unknown | 23 | 16% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 60 | 42% |
| Environmental Science | 37 | 26% |
| Earth and Planetary Sciences | 5 | 4% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 5 | 4% |
| Social Sciences | 4 | 3% |
| Other | 8 | 6% |
| Unknown | 23 | 16% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 3. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 23 August 2012.
All research outputs
#7,453,126
of 22,785,242 outputs
Outputs from Oecologia
#1,673
of 4,210 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#33,265
of 93,611 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Oecologia
#11
of 17 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 22,785,242 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 44th percentile – i.e., 44% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 4,210 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 7.0. This one is in the 34th percentile – i.e., 34% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 17 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 17th percentile – i.e., 17% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.