Assessing diet in savanna herbivores using stable carbon isotope ratios of faeces

摘要: In African savannas, browse-based resources (@3 plants) are isotopically distinct from grasses (@4 plants). The carbon isotopic composition of the basic plant diet is recorded in animal tissues. Mammal faeces a readily accessible, non-invasive, sample material for temporally resolved dietary reconstructions. Faeces, however, include both undigested matter and waste, hence accuracy calculations could potentially be compromised by shifts values related to seasonal or spatial differences, variability differences between diet. A controlled feeding study four ungulate species showed small, consistent difference of-0.9 o, irrespective whether was @3 C4-based. Results oftaxa known pure grazers, browsers, mixed-feeders Kruger National Park were entirely with their diets, but reconstructions enhanced data local communities.