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  • 1
    Electronic Resource
    Electronic Resource
    Digestibility, digestion-inhibitors and nutrients of herbaceous foliage and green stems from an African montane flora and comparison with other tropical flora (1983)
    Springer
    Oecologia 60 (1983), S. 244-249 
    Details
    ISSN: 1432-1939
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology
    Notes: Summary A total of 21 kinds of mature leaves and 12 kinds of green stems from the herbaceous flora of an afro-montane forest have been analysed for moisture content, dry matter digestibility in pepsin and cellulase enzymes, total phenolics, condensed tannins, acid detergent fibre, protein, and the micronutrients phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium. Leaves were found to be significantly more digestible than stems, to contain less fibre but more total phenolics, and to be richer in protein and all micronutrients except potassium. Condensed tannins were found in very few samples, in contrast to their widespread occurrence in foliage from tropical rain forests in Africa and India. An analysis of the correlates of digestibility suggested that in green stems this was largely controlled by fibre content: the overall relationship with all measures being very similar to that recorded previously for rain forest foliage. Rather surprisingly the leaves failed to exhibit a similar relationship and none of the measures taken correlated strongly with digestibility. Compared with foliage from rain forest trees the leaves analysed in this study were found to be more digestible, richer in phosphorus and deficient in both fibre and tannin-based digestion-inhibitors. The two types of foliage are compared as sources of food for herbivores and findings discussed in the light of prevailing hypotheses of plant anti-herbivore chemistry.
    Type of Medium: Electronic Resource
    URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00379527
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    Paper (German National Licenses)
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  • 2
    Electronic Resource
    Electronic Resource
    Food selection by the South Indian leaf-monkey, Presbytis johnii, in relation to leaf chemistry (1980)
    Springer
    Oecologia 45 (1980), S. 45-56 
    Details
    ISSN: 1432-1939
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology
    Notes: Summary The leaf-monkey Presbytis johnii has been found to exhibit considerable selectivity in its dietary utilization of mature foliage in a rain-forest habitat. To investigate the basis of this selectivity and to examine the hypothesis that the observed selection is related to the digestibility and toxicity of the available foliage, chemical analyses have been made on 16 of the most important tree species in the monkey's habitat. It has been found that the most heavily used items, which form a staple part of the diet of P. johnii, are characterized by a low fibre content and a very low condensed tannin content. However, neither class of compound is an absolute feeding deterrent as minor, but still significant, mature leaf food items contain considerable amounts of both. It is suggested that the feeding deterrents in these minor items, which may be ingested to supply specific dietary requirements, can perhaps be tolerated because of their dilution in the gut by the dietary staples. An examination of the pepsin/cellulase digestibility of available mature foliage showed that the staple food items tended to be highly digestible. Little correlation has been found between alkaloid content and food selection and it is suggested that the colobine forestomach microflora has the ability to detoxify at least some alkaloids. Additional data on mature leaf petioles and young leaves suggest that the high ratio of cell-sap to cell-wall in these items, and their related high digestibility, explain the high relative abundance of these items in the P. johnii diet.
    Type of Medium: Electronic Resource
    URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00346706
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    Paper (German National Licenses)
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  • 3
    Electronic Resource
    Electronic Resource
    A simple enzyme assay for dry matter digestibility and its value in studying food selection by generalist herbivores (1981)
    Springer
    Oecologia 49 (1981), S. 170-178 
    Details
    ISSN: 1432-1939
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology
    Notes: Summary The dry matter digestibility of 94 species of leaf was assayed by a simple method involving sequential treatment with pepsin and fungal cellulase enzymes. It was demonstrated that for foliage from rainforest trees of a wide range of dicotyledonous plant families the assay showed high positive correlation with estimates of dry matter digestibility obtained using rumenliquor from a fistulated steer. Both assays were found to reflect negative correlates of digestibility, notably fibre and condensed tannin, rather than the nutritional value of an item. The higher dry matter digestibility of immature leaves relative to mature leaves appeared to be accounted for by their lower fibre content. It is suggested that the pepsin/cellulase assay offers a cheap, quick, routine method of gaining information on the effects of some types of plant secondary compounds (digestibility reducers) on the ‘food potential’ of different kinds of foliage to herbivores. Its use in studies of herbivory in rainforest areas in relation to analyses for plant secondary compounds and food selection by herbivores is discussed.
    Type of Medium: Electronic Resource
    URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00349185
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    Paper (German National Licenses)
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