Avoiding toxic levels of essential minerals: A forgotten factor in deer diet preferences.

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dc.contributor.authorCeacero, F.
dc.contributor.authorLandete-Castillejos, T.
dc.contributor.authorOlguín, A.
dc.contributor.authorMiguel, V.
dc.contributor.authorGallego, L.
dc.contributor.authorMiranda, M.
dc.contributor.authorGarcía, A.
dc.contributor.authorMartínez, A.
dc.contributor.authorCassinello, J.
dc.date.accessioned2016-06-03T08:04:46Z
dc.date.available2016-06-03T08:04:46Z
dc.date.issued2015-01
dc.description.abstractUngulates select diets with high energy, protein, and sodium contents. However, it is scarcely known the influence of essential minerals other than Na in diet preferences. Moreover, almost no information is available about the possible influence of toxic levels of essential minerals on avoidance of certain plant species. The aim of this research was to test the relative importance of mineral content of plants in diet selection by red deer (Cervus elaphus) in an annual basis. We determined mineral, protein and ash content in 35 common Mediterranean plant species (the most common ones in the study area). These plant species were previously classified as preferred and non-preferred. We found that deer preferred plants with low contents of Ca, Mg, K, P, S, Cu, Sr and Zn. The model obtained was greatly accurate identifying the preferred plant species (91.3% of correct assignments). After a detailed analysis of these minerals (considering deficiencies and toxicity levels both in preferred and non-preferred plants) we suggest that the avoidance of excessive sulphur in diet (i.e., selection for plants with low sulphur content) seems to override the maximization for other nutrients. Low sulphur content seems to be a forgotten factor with certain relevance for explaining diet selection in deer. Recent studies in livestock support this conclusion, which is highlighted here for the first time in diet selection by a wild large herbivore. Our results suggest that future studies should also take into account the toxicity levels of minerals as potential drivers of preferences.en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationCeacero, F. et al. 2015. Avoiding toxic levels of essential minerals: A forgotten factor in deer diet preferences. PLoS ONE 15(1).en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn1932-6203
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10539/20416
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherPublic Library of Scienceen_ZA
dc.subjectanimal fooden_ZA
dc.subjectArticleen_ZA
dc.subjectashen_ZA
dc.subjectcontrolled studyen_ZA
dc.subjectfood compositionen_ZA
dc.subjectfood preferenceen_ZA
dc.subjectmineral deficiencyen_ZA
dc.subjectnonhumanen_ZA
dc.subjectplanten_ZA
dc.subjectprotein contenten_ZA
dc.subjectred deeren_ZA
dc.subjectshruben_ZA
dc.subjecttreeen_ZA
dc.subjectcalciumen_ZA
dc.subjectcopperen_ZA
dc.subjectmagnesiumen_ZA
dc.subjectmineralen_ZA
dc.subjectphosphorusen_ZA
dc.subjectpotassiumen_ZA
dc.subjectstrontiumen_ZA
dc.subjectsulfuren_ZA
dc.subjectzincen_ZA
dc.subjectCervidaeen_ZA
dc.subjectCervus elaphusen_ZA
dc.subjectUngulataen_ZA
dc.titleAvoiding toxic levels of essential minerals: A forgotten factor in deer diet preferences.en_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA
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