1
|
Windley HR, Starrs D, Stalenberg E, Rothman JM, Ganzhorn JU, Foley WJ. Plant secondary metabolites and primate food choices: A meta-analysis and future directions. Am J Primatol 2022; 84:e23397. [PMID: 35700311 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23397] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2021] [Revised: 05/06/2022] [Accepted: 05/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
The role of plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) in shaping the feeding decisions, habitat suitability, and reproductive success of herbivorous mammals has been a major theme in ecology for decades. Although primatologists were among the first to test these ideas, studies of PSMs in the feeding ecology of non-human primates have lagged in recent years, leading to a recent call for primatologists to reconnect with phytochemists to advance our understanding of the primate nutrition. To further this case, we present a formal meta-analysis of diet choice in response to PSMs based on field studies on wild primates. Our analysis of 155 measurements of primate feeding response to PSMs is drawn from 53 studies across 43 primate species which focussed primarily on the effect of three classes of PSMs tannins, phenolics, and alkaloids. We found a small but significant effect of PSMs on the diet choice of wild primates, which was largely driven by the finding that colobine primates showed a moderate aversion to condensed tannins. Conversely, there was no evidence that PSMs had a significant deterrent effect on food choices of non-colobine primates when all were combined into a single group. Furthermore, within the colobine primates, no other PSMs influenced feeding choices and we found no evidence that foregut anatomy significantly affected food choice with respect to PSMs. We suggest that methodological improvements related to experimental approaches and the adoption of new techniques including metabolomics are needed to advance our understanding of primate diet choice.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hannah R Windley
- Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.,Wildlife Ecology Laboratory, Department of Wildlife Biology, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Danswell Starrs
- Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Eleanor Stalenberg
- Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.,Hawkesbury Institute of the Environment, Western Sydney University, Richmond, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Jessica M Rothman
- Department of Anthropology, Hunter College of the City University of New York, and New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, New York, USA
| | - Joerg U Ganzhorn
- Animal Ecology and Conservation, Universität Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | - William J Foley
- Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.,Animal Ecology and Conservation, Universität Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Matsuda I, Hashimoto C, Ihobe H, Yumoto T, Baranga D, Clauss M, Hummel J. Dietary Choices of a Foregut-Fermenting Primate, Colobus guereza: A Comprehensive Approach Including Leaf Chemical and Mechanical Properties, Digestibility and Abundance. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.795015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Free-ranging animals make dietary choices that affect their nutritional status and, ultimately, their health and fitness. We investigated food selection by a leaf-eating foregut-fermenting primate, the guereza (Colobus guereza), using multiple criteria, including chemical and mechanical properties, in vitro digestibility and leaf abundance, on the basis of 30 consecutive months of behavioral observations (4308 h in total) of a family group in the Kalinzu Forest, Uganda, as well as vegetation surveys. We noted that leaf toughness may be a proximate cue for the chemical properties of plant foods, especially for protein, which is an important selection factor used by primates. We also found that the in vitro digestibility of plant foods was greatly influenced by the concentrations of fiber and secondary compounds. At a broad level, none of the studied factors, including leaf chemical and mechanical properties, digestibility and abundance, affected whether guerezas consumed specific leaf items. At a more detailed level, however, protein content, digestibility and toughness were related to the percentage of foraging effort that guerezas devoted to specific items in our study site.
Collapse
|