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Abstract
Nutrition profoundly influences the risk for many age-related diseases. Whether nutrition influences human aging biology directly is less clear. Studies in different animal species indicate that reducing food intake ("caloric restriction" [CR]) can increase lifespan and delay the onset of diseases and the biological hallmarks of aging. Obesity has been described as "accelerated aging" and therefore the lifespan and health benefits generated by CR in both aging and obesity may occur via similar mechanisms. Beyond calorie intake, studies based on nutritional geometry have shown that protein intake and the interaction between dietary protein and carbohydrates influence age-related health and lifespan. Studies where animals are calorically restricted by providing free access to diluted diets have had less impact on lifespan than those studies where animals are given a reduced aliquot of food each day and are fasting between meals. This has drawn attention to the role of fasting in health and aging, and exploration of the health effects of various fasting regimes. Although definitive human clinical trials of nutrition and aging would need to be unfeasibly long and unrealistically controlled, there is good evidence from animal experiments that some nutritional interventions based on CR, manipulating dietary macronutrients, and fasting can influence aging biology and lifespan.
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Affiliation(s)
- David G Le Couteur
- Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
- ANZAC Research Institute, The Concord Hospital, Concord, Australia
| | - David Raubenheimer
- Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Samantha Solon-Biet
- Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Rafael de Cabo
- Translational Gerontology Branch, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Aging (NIH), Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Stephen J Simpson
- Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
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2
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Zaguri M, Mogilevsky I, Raubenheimer D, Hawlena D. 'Dust you shall eat': The complex nutritional and functional considerations underlying a simple diet. Ecol Lett 2024; 27:e14414. [PMID: 38622965 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2023] [Revised: 03/05/2024] [Accepted: 03/05/2024] [Indexed: 04/17/2024]
Abstract
Animals assimilate macronutrients and mineral nutrients in specific quantities and ratios to maximise fitness. To achieve this, animals must ingest different foods that contain the needed nutrients or facilitate the digestion of those nutrients. We explored how these multidimensional considerations affect the desert isopods (Hemilepistus reaumuri) curious food selection, using field and laboratory experiments. Wild isopods consumed three-fold more macronutrient-poor biological soil crust (BSC) than plant litter. Isopods tightly regulated macronutrient and calcium intake, but not phosphorus when eating the two natural foods and when artificial calcium and phosphorus sources substituted the BSC. Despite the equivalent calcium ingestion, isopods performed better when eating BSC compared to artificial foods. Isopods that consumed BSC sterilised by gamma-radiation ate more but grew slower than isopods that ate live BSC, implying that ingested microorganisms facilitate litter digestion. Our work highlights the need to reveal the multifaceted considerations that affect food-selection when exploring trophic-interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Moshe Zaguri
- Department of Entomology, Newe Ya'ar Research Center, Agricultural Research Organization (Volcani Institute), Ramat Yishay, Israel
- Risk-Management Ecology Lab, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, The Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Irit Mogilevsky
- Risk-Management Ecology Lab, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, The Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - David Raubenheimer
- Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Dror Hawlena
- Risk-Management Ecology Lab, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, The Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
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Csata E, Pérez-Escudero A, Laury E, Leitner H, Latil G, Heinze J, Simpson SJ, Cremer S, Dussutour A. Fungal infection alters collective nutritional intake of ant colonies. Curr Biol 2024; 34:902-909.e6. [PMID: 38307022 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.01.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2023] [Revised: 12/18/2023] [Accepted: 01/08/2024] [Indexed: 02/04/2024]
Abstract
In animals, parasitic infections impose significant fitness costs.1,2,3,4,5,6 Infected animals can alter their feeding behavior to resist infection,7,8,9,10,11,12 but parasites can manipulate animal foraging behavior to their own benefits.13,14,15,16 How nutrition influences host-parasite interactions is not well understood, as studies have mainly focused on the host and less on the parasite.9,12,17,18,19,20,21,22,23 We used the nutritional geometry framework24 to investigate the role of amino acids (AA) and carbohydrates (C) in a host-parasite system: the Argentine ant, Linepithema humile, and the entomopathogenic fungus, Metarhizium brunneum. First, using 18 diets varying in AA:C composition, we established that the fungus performed best on the high-amino-acid diet 1:4. Second, we found that the fungus reached this optimal diet when given various diet pairings, revealing its ability to cope with nutritional challenges. Third, we showed that the optimal fungal diet reduced the lifespan of healthy ants when compared with a high-carbohydrate diet but had no effect on infected ants. Fourth, we revealed that infected ant colonies, given a choice between the optimal fungal diet and a high-carbohydrate diet, chose the optimal fungal diet, whereas healthy colonies avoided it. Lastly, by disentangling fungal infection from host immune response, we demonstrated that infected ants foraged on the optimal fungal diet in response to immune activation and not as a result of parasite manipulation. Therefore, we revealed that infected ant colonies chose a diet that is costly for survival in the long term but beneficial in the short term-a form of collective self-medication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Enikő Csata
- Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale (CRCA), Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, 31062 Toulouse, France; Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warsaw, Poland; Institute for Zoology, University of Regensburg, Universitätsstraße 31, 93040 Regensburg, Germany.
| | - Alfonso Pérez-Escudero
- Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale (CRCA), Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, 31062 Toulouse, France
| | - Emmanuel Laury
- Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale (CRCA), Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, 31062 Toulouse, France
| | - Hanna Leitner
- ISTA (Institute of Science and Technology Austria), Am Campus 1, 3400 Klosterneuburg, Austria
| | - Gérard Latil
- Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale (CRCA), Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, 31062 Toulouse, France
| | - Jürgen Heinze
- Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Stephen J Simpson
- Charles Perkins Centre and School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Sylvia Cremer
- ISTA (Institute of Science and Technology Austria), Am Campus 1, 3400 Klosterneuburg, Austria
| | - Audrey Dussutour
- Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale (CRCA), Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, 31062 Toulouse, France
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Raubenheimer D, Hou R, Dong Y, Ren C, Cui Z. Towards an integrated understanding of dietary phenotypes. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2023; 378:20220545. [PMID: 37839453 PMCID: PMC10577033 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0545] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2023] [Accepted: 07/26/2023] [Indexed: 10/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Diet and nutrition comprise a complex, multi-faceted interface between animal biology and food environments. With accumulating information on the many facets of this association arises a need for systems-based approaches that integrate dietary components and their links with ecology, feeding, post-ingestive processes and the functional and ecological consequences of these interactions. We briefly show how a modelling approach, nutritional geometry, has used the experimental control afforded in laboratory studies to begin to unravel these links. Laboratory studies, however, have limited ability to establish whether and how the feeding and physiological mechanisms interface with realistic ecological environments. We next provide an overview of observational field studies of free-ranging primates that have examined this, producing largely correlative data suggesting that similar feeding mechanisms operate in the wild as in the laboratory. Significant challenges remain, however, in establishing causal links between feeding, resource variation and physiological processes in the wild. We end with a more detailed account of two studies of temperate primates that have capitalized on the discrete variation provided by seasonal environments to strengthen causal inference in field studies and link patterns of intake to dynamics of nutrient processing. This article is part of the theme issue 'Food processing and nutritional assimilation in animals'.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Raubenheimer
- Charles Perkins Centre and School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
- Centre for Nutritional Ecology, Centre for Sport Nutrition and Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, 450001, People's Republic of China
| | - Rong Hou
- Shanxi Key Laboratory for Animal Conservation, Northwest University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710069, People's Republic of China
| | - Yunlong Dong
- Centre for Nutritional Ecology, Centre for Sport Nutrition and Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, 450001, People's Republic of China
| | - Cuiru Ren
- Centre for Nutritional Ecology, Centre for Sport Nutrition and Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, 450001, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhenwei Cui
- Centre for Nutritional Ecology, Centre for Sport Nutrition and Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, 450001, People's Republic of China
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Malod K, Archer CR, Hunt J, Nicolson SW, Weldon CW. Selection on female reproductive schedules in the marula fly, Ceratitis cosyra (Diptera: Tephritidae) affects dietary optima for female reproductive traits but not lifespan. Front Insect Sci 2023; 3:1166753. [PMID: 38469485 PMCID: PMC10926420 DOI: 10.3389/finsc.2023.1166753] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2023] [Accepted: 04/28/2023] [Indexed: 03/13/2024]
Abstract
Introduction A changing environment can select on life-history traits and trade-offs in a myriad of ways. For example, global warming may shift phenology and thus the availability of host-plants. This may alter selection on survival and fertility schedules in herbivorous insects. If selection on life-histories changes, this may in turn select for altered nutrient intake, because the blend of nutrients organisms consume helps determine the expression of life-history traits. However, we lack empirical work testing whether shifts in the timing of oviposition alter nutrient intake and life-history strategies. Methods We tested in the marula fruit fly, Ceratitis cosyra, how upward-selection on the age of female oviposition, in comparison with laboratory adapted control flies, affects the sex-specific relationship between protein and carbohydrate intake and life-history traits including lifespan, female lifetime egg production and daily egg production. We then determined the macronutrient ratio consumed when flies from each selection line and sex were allowed to self-regulate their intake. Results Lifespan, lifetime egg production and daily egg production were optimised at similar protein to carbohydrate (P:C) ratios in flies from both selection lines. Likewise, females and males of both lines actively defended similar nutrient intake ratios (control =1:3.6 P:C; upward-selected = 1:3.2 P:C). Discussion Our results are comparable to those in non-selected C. cosyra, where the optima for each trait and the self-selected protein to carbohydrate ratio observed were nearly identical. The nutrient blend that needs to be ingested for optimal expression of a given trait appeared to be well conserved across laboratory adapted and experimentally selected populations. These results suggest that in C. cosyra, nutritional requirements do not respond to a temporal change in oviposition substrate availability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin Malod
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Hatfield, South Africa
| | - C. Ruth Archer
- Institute for Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - John Hunt
- School of Science, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW, Australia
| | - Susan W. Nicolson
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Hatfield, South Africa
| | - Christopher W. Weldon
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Hatfield, South Africa
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6
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Beeby N, Rothman JM, Baden AL. Nutrient balancing in a fruit-specialist primate, the black-and-white ruffed lemur (Varecia variegata). Am J Primatol 2023; 85:e23484. [PMID: 36891766 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23484] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2022] [Revised: 12/05/2022] [Accepted: 02/18/2023] [Indexed: 03/10/2023]
Abstract
Animals' foraging behavior and dietary choices are, in part, driven by their ultimate function: to meet nutritional demands. However, depending on their degree of dietary specialization and the availability and distribution of food resources in their environment, species may utilize different nutritional strategies. With shifting plant phenology, increasing unpredictability of fruiting, and declining food quality in response to anthropogenic climate change, existing nutritional constraints may become exacerbated. Such changes are especially concerning for Madagascar's endemic fruit specialists given the nutrient-limitation of the island's landscapes. In this study, we examined the nutritional strategy of one such fruit-specialist primate, the black-and-white ruffed lemur (Varecia variegata), over a 12-month period (January to December 2018) in Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar. We hypothesized that Varecia would balance nonprotein energy (NPE) to protein (AP) at a high ratio similar to other frugivorous primates, and that they would prioritize protein intake given their high degree of frugivory. We found that Varecia balance NPE:AP at a ratio of 11:1, higher than in any other primate studied to date; however, diets shifted such that nutrient balancing varied seasonally (12.6:1 abundant-9.6:1 lean). Varecia meet NRC suggested recommendations of 5-8% of calories from protein, despite having a diet mostly comprising fruits. However, seasonal shifts in NPE intakes result in significant energy shortfalls during fruit-lean seasons. Flowers provide an important source of NPE during these periods, with flower consumption best predicting lipid intake, suggesting this species' ability to shift resource use. Nevertheless, achieving adequate and balanced nutrient intakes may become precarious in the face of increasing unpredictability in plant phenology and other environmental stochasticities resulting from climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nina Beeby
- Department of Anthropology, The Graduate Center of City University of New York, New York, USA.,The New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology (NYCEP), New York, USA
| | - Jessica M Rothman
- Department of Anthropology, The Graduate Center of City University of New York, New York, USA.,The New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology (NYCEP), New York, USA.,Department of Anthropology, Hunter College of City University of New York, New York, USA
| | - Andrea L Baden
- Department of Anthropology, The Graduate Center of City University of New York, New York, USA.,The New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology (NYCEP), New York, USA.,Department of Anthropology, Hunter College of City University of New York, New York, USA
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7
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De Lisle SP. Rapid evolution of ecological sexual dimorphism driven by resource competition. Ecol Lett 2023; 26:124-131. [PMID: 36366784 PMCID: PMC10099664 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2022] [Revised: 10/14/2022] [Accepted: 10/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Sex differences in ecologically important traits are common in animals and plants, and prompted Darwin to first propose an ecological cause of sexual dimorphism. Despite theoretical plausibility and Darwin's original notion, a role for ecological resource competition in the evolution of sexual dimorphism has never been directly demonstrated and remains controversial. I used experimental evolution in Drosophila melanogaster to test the hypothesis that resource competition can drive the evolution of sex differences in diet. Following just three generations of adaptation, offspring from flies evolved in low-resource, high-competition environments show elevated sexual dimorphism in diet preference compared to both the ancestor and populations evolved on high-resource availability. This increased sexual dimorphism was the result of divergence in male sucrose intake and female yeast intake consistent with the differential nutritional requirements of the sexes. These results provide the first real-time direct evidence for evolution of sexual dimorphism driven by resource competition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen P De Lisle
- Evolutionary Ecology Unit, Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
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Sun SL, Abudisilimu N, Yi H, Li S, Liu TX, Jing X. Understanding nutritive need in Harmonia axyridis larvae: Insights from nutritional geometry. Insect Sci 2022; 29:1433-1444. [PMID: 35061926 DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.13009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2021] [Revised: 12/21/2021] [Accepted: 01/07/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
The multicolored Asian lady beetle, Harmonia axyridis (Pallas) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), is an important natural enemy in agricultural ecosystems. In spite of being a carnivore consuming protein-rich preys, the lady beetles often consume carbohydrate-rich food like nectar or honeydew. However, most studies on nutrition regulation of carnivores mainly focus on protein and lipid, two major macronutrients in preys. In this study, nutrition regulation of protein and carbohydrate has been investigated in the 4th instar larvae of H. axyridis using Geometric Framework. We provided the insects two pairs of foods, one a protein-biased one and the second carbohydrate-biased, to determine the intake target. We then confined them to nutritionally imbalanced foods to examine how they regulated food intake to achieve maximal performance. The larvae performed well on the 2 foods that containing the closest P : C ratios to the intake target, but, surprisingly, the lipid content was much lower than that in the choice experiment. The lady beetles seemed to maintain the optimal lipid content by consuming carbohydrate-rich food. Moreover, consuming the carbohydrate-rich food was less metabolically expensive than the protein-rich food. Therefore, switching behavior between plant and animal foods actually reflects their nutritive needs. These findings extended our understanding of predator forage behavior and its influence on food web in ecosystems, and shed light on the role of agri-environment schemes in meeting the nutritional need of predators in field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shao-Lei Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China
- Key Laboratory of Integrated Pest Management on the Loess Plateau of Ministry of Agriculture, College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China
| | - Nibijiang Abudisilimu
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China
- Key Laboratory of Integrated Pest Management on the Loess Plateau of Ministry of Agriculture, College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China
| | - Hao Yi
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China
- Key Laboratory of Integrated Pest Management on the Loess Plateau of Ministry of Agriculture, College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China
| | - Sali Li
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China
- Key Laboratory of Integrated Pest Management on the Loess Plateau of Ministry of Agriculture, College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China
| | - Tong-Xian Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China
- Key Laboratory of Integrated Pest Management on the Loess Plateau of Ministry of Agriculture, College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China
| | - Xiangfeng Jing
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China
- Key Laboratory of Integrated Pest Management on the Loess Plateau of Ministry of Agriculture, College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China
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Liyanapathirana NN, Grech A, Li M, Malik A, Lenzen M, Raubenheimer D. Nutrient-sensitive approach for sustainability assessment of different dietary patterns in Australia. Am J Clin Nutr 2022; 115:1048-1058. [PMID: 34982816 DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/nqab429] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2021] [Accepted: 12/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Understanding the relation between sustainability and nutrients is important in devising healthy and sustainable diets. However, there are no prevailing methodologies to assess sustainability at the nutrient level. OBJECTIVES The aim was to examine and demonstrate the potential of integrating input-output analysis with nutritional geometry to link environmental, economic, and health associations of dietary scenarios in Australia with macronutrients. METHODS One-day dietary recalls of 9341 adult respondents (age ≥18 y) of the latest available cross-sectional National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey-2011/12 of Australia were integrated with the input-output data obtained from the Australian Industrial Ecology Virtual Laboratory to calculate the environmental and economic impacts of dietary intakes in Australia. Australian adults' dietary intakes were classified into 3 dietary scenarios: "vegan," "pescatarian," and "omnivorous." Then, the relations between nutritional, economic, and environmental characteristics of the 3 dietary scenarios were demonstrated with the diets' macronutrient composition in a multidimensional nutritional geometry representation to link the sustainability indicators with macronutrients. RESULTS Nutrient density and economic and environmental indicators increased as the percentage of energy from proteins increased and decreased as the percentage of energy from fats increased for the 3 dietary scenarios, except for the nutrient density and water use of the "vegan" dietary scenario. Energy density increased as the percentage of energy from fats increased and decreased as the percentage of energy from proteins increased for "pescatarian" and "omnivorous" dietary scenarios. In the "vegan" dietary scenario, nutrient density and water use increased as the percentage of energy from proteins increased; however, these decreased as the percentage of energy from carbohydrates increased, instead of fats. CONCLUSIONS The study presents a new approach to analyzing the relations between sustainability indicators, foods, and macronutrients and establishes that proteins, irrespective of the source of protein, are driving dietary environmental and economic impacts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Navoda Nirmani Liyanapathirana
- The School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.,Centre for Integrated Sustainability Analysis, School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Amanda Grech
- The School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Mengyu Li
- Centre for Integrated Sustainability Analysis, School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Arunima Malik
- Centre for Integrated Sustainability Analysis, School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Manfred Lenzen
- Centre for Integrated Sustainability Analysis, School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - David Raubenheimer
- The School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
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10
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Hecker LJ, Edwards MA, Nielsen SE. Assessing the nutritional consequences of switching foraging behavior in wood bison. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:16165-16176. [PMID: 34824819 PMCID: PMC8601871 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8298] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2021] [Revised: 10/17/2021] [Accepted: 10/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Diet is one of the most common traits used to organize species of animals into niches. For ruminant herbivores, the breadth and uniqueness of their dietary niche are placed on a spectrum from browsers that consume woody (i.e., browse) and herbaceous (i.e., forbs) plants, to grazers with graminoid-rich diets. However, seasonal changes in plant availability and quality can lead to switching of their dietary niche, even within species. In this study, we examined whether a population of wood bison (Bison bison athabascae) in northeast Alberta, Canada, seasonally switched their foraging behavior, and if so, whether this was associated with changes in nutrient acquisition. We hypothesized that bison should switch foraging behaviors from grazing in the winter when standing, dead graminoids are the only foliar plants readily available to browsing during spring and summer as nutritious and digestible foliar parts of browse and forbs become available. If bison are switching foraging strategy to maximize protein consumption, then there should be a corresponding shift in the nutritional niche. Alternatively, if bison are eating different plants, but consuming similar amounts of nutrients, then bison are switching their dietary niche to maintain a particular nutrient composition. We found wood bison were grazers in the winter and spring, but switch to a browsing during summer. However, only winter nutrient consumption of consumed plants differed significantly among seasons. Between spring and summer, bison maintained a specific nutritional composition in their diet despite compositional differences in the consumed plants. Our evidence suggests that bison are selecting plants to maintain a target macronutrient composition. We posit that herbivore's can and will switch their dietary niche to maintain a target nutrient composition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lee J. Hecker
- University of AlbertaEdmontonAlbertaCanada
- Royal Alberta MuseumEdmontonAlbertaCanada
| | - Mark A. Edwards
- University of AlbertaEdmontonAlbertaCanada
- Royal Alberta MuseumEdmontonAlbertaCanada
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11
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Crumière AJJ, James A, Lannes P, Mallett S, Michelsen A, Rinnan R, Shik JZ. The multidimensional nutritional niche of fungus-cultivar provisioning in free-ranging colonies of a neotropical leafcutter ant. Ecol Lett 2021; 24:2439-2451. [PMID: 34418263 PMCID: PMC9292433 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13865] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2021] [Accepted: 08/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Foraging trails of leafcutter colonies are iconic scenes in the Neotropics, with ants collecting freshly cut plant fragments to provision a fungal food crop. We hypothesised that the fungus‐cultivar's requirements for macronutrients and minerals govern the foraging niche breadth of Atta colombica leafcutter ants. Analyses of plant fragments carried by foragers showed how nutrients from fruits, flowers and leaves combine to maximise cultivar performance. While the most commonly foraged leaves delivered excess protein relative to the cultivar's needs, in vitro experiments showed that the minerals P, Al and Fe may expand the leafcutter foraging niche by enhancing the cultivar's tolerance to protein‐biased substrates. A suite of other minerals reduces cultivar performance in ways that may render plant fragments with optimal macronutrient blends unsuitable for provisioning. Our approach highlights how the nutritional challenges of provisioning a mutualist can govern the multidimensional realised niche available to a generalist insect herbivore.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonin J J Crumière
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Aidan James
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Pol Lannes
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Sophie Mallett
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Anders Michelsen
- Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Riikka Rinnan
- Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Jonathan Z Shik
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancon, Panama
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12
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Uwimbabazi M, Raubenheimer D, Tweheyo M, Basuta GI, Conklin-Brittain NL, Wrangham RW, Rothman JM. Nutritional geometry of female chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Am J Primatol 2021; 83:e23269. [PMID: 34002861 PMCID: PMC8225573 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2020] [Revised: 04/20/2021] [Accepted: 05/06/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Primate foraging is influenced by the spatial and temporal distribution of foods, which may facilitate or constrain optimal nutrient intakes. Chimpanzees are frugivorous primates that mainly subsist on ripe fruit that is typically low in available protein (AP) and high in easily digestible carbohydrates. Because chimpanzees prefer ripe fruit and often eat it in large quantities compared with other foods, we hypothesized that protein intake would be tightly regulated while non-protein energy (NPE) would vary with fruit intake. To test this hypothesis, we conducted all-day follows on female chimpanzees, recorded all types of food consumed (i.e., drupes, figs, and non-fruit foods), estimated the nutritional contributions of these foods to daily NPE and AP intake and investigated how the ratio of NPE to AP varied due to changes in the types of foods consumed. Although the proportions of drupes, figs, and non-fruit foods varied in their diets, female chimpanzees maintained a relatively stable intake of AP while intake of NPE varied depending on the daily diet, demonstrating that like other frugivorous primates studied to date, chimpanzees prioritize protein. The mean daily ratio of NPE to AP was 7:1, which is similar to that of other frugivorous primates studied. Our results support the hypothesis that frugivorous animals may generally prioritize AP, while maximizing NPE intake within that constraint, and could shed light on aspects of human dietary evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Moreen Uwimbabazi
- Department of Zoology, Entomology and Fisheries Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Makerere University
- National Forestry Resources Research Institute, Mukono, Uganda
| | - David Raubenheimer
- Charles Perkins Centre and School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Mnason Tweheyo
- Department of Forestry, Biodiversity and Tourism, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Makerere University
| | - Gilbert I. Basuta
- Department of Zoology, Entomology and Fisheries Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Makerere University
| | | | | | - Jessica M. Rothman
- Department of Anthropology, Hunter College of the City University of New York
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13
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Chakraborty A, Sgrò CM, Mirth CK. Does local adaptation along a latitudinal cline shape plastic responses to combined thermal and nutritional stress? Evolution 2021; 74:2073-2087. [PMID: 33616935 DOI: 10.1111/evo.14065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2020] [Accepted: 07/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Thermal and nutritional stress are commonly experienced by animals. This will become increasingly so with climate change. Whether populations can plastically respond to such changes will determine their survival. Plasticity can vary among populations depending on the extent of environmental heterogeneity. However, theory conflicts as to whether environmental heterogeneity should increase or decrease plasticity. Using three locally adapted populations of Drosophila melanogaster sampled from a latitudinal gradient, we investigated whether plastic responses to combinations of nutrition and temperature increase or decrease with latitude for four traits: egg-adult viability, egg-adult development time, and two body size traits. Employing nutritional geometry, we reared larvae on 25 diets varying in protein and carbohydrate content at two temperatures: 18 and 25°C. Plasticity varied among traits and across the three populations. Viability was highly canalized in all three populations. The tropical population showed the least plasticity for development time, the sub-tropical showed the highest plasticity for wing area, and the temperate population showed the highest plasticity for femur length. We found no evidence of latitudinal plasticity gradients in either direction. Our data highlight that differences in thermal variation and resource predictability experienced by populations along a latitudinal cline are not sufficient to predict their plasticity.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Carla M Sgrò
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3800, Australia
| | - Christen K Mirth
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3800, Australia
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14
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Hou R, Chapman CA, Rothman JM, Zhang H, Huang K, Guo S, Li B, Raubenheimer D. The geometry of resource constraint: An empirical study of the golden snub-nosed monkey. J Anim Ecol 2021; 90:751-765. [PMID: 33314075 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13408] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2020] [Accepted: 11/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Apposite conceptualization and measurement of resource variation is critical for understanding many issues in ecology, including ecological niches, persistence and distribution of populations, the structure of communities and population resilience to perturbations. We apply the nutritional geometry framework to conceptualize and quantify the responses of a temperate-living primate, the golden snub-nosed monkey Rhinopithecus roxellana to variation in resource quality and quantity and in nutrient requirements associated with seasonal environments. We present a geometric model distinguishing qualitative constraint, quantitative constraint and 'pseudo-constraint' whereby nutrient intakes resemble response to qualitative resource constraint but are in fact driven by variation in nutrient requirements. The model is applied to analyse nutrient intakes recorded in 164 full-day observations of monkeys from two populations, one wild and the other captive, across seasons. Additionally, we recorded the diet of a single animal over 32 consecutive days in the wild. Despite considerable differences in available resources, the captive and wild populations showed marked similarities in nutrient intakes, including indistinguishable amounts and ratios of ingested macronutrients during summer and autumn and strong year-round maintenance of protein compared to seasonally variable fat and carbohydrate intakes. These similarities suggest homeostatically regulated nutritional targets and provide reference points to identify factors driving population differences in macronutrient intake in winter and spring. Our framework enabled us to distinguish examples of quantitative, qualitative and 'pseudo-constraint'. We suggest that this approach can increase the resolution at which resource constraint is conceptualized and measured in ecological studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rong Hou
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory for Animal Conservation, College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, China.,Department of Anthropology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Colin A Chapman
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory for Animal Conservation, College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, China.,Department of Anthropology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.,Department of Anthropology, Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.,School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
| | - Jessica M Rothman
- Department of Anthropology, Hunter College of the City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
| | - He Zhang
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory for Animal Conservation, College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, China
| | - Kang Huang
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory for Animal Conservation, College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, China
| | - Songtao Guo
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory for Animal Conservation, College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, China
| | - Baoguo Li
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory for Animal Conservation, College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, China.,CAS Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
| | - David Raubenheimer
- Charles Perkins Centre and School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
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15
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Abstract
There is mounting evidence that obesity has negative repercussions for reproductive physiology in males. Much of this evidence has accumulated from rodent studies employing diets high in fat and sugar ("high fat" or "western" diets). While excessive fats and carbohydrates have long been considered major determinants of diet induced obesity, a growing body of research suggests that the relationships between diet composition and obesity are more complex than originally thought, involving interactions between dietary macronutrients. However, rodent dietary models have yet to evolve to capture this, instead relying heavily on elevated levels of a single macronutrient. While this approach has highlighted important effects of obesity on male reproduction, it does not allow for interpretation of the complex, interacting effects of dietary protein, carbohydrate and fat. Further, the single nutrient approach limits the ability to draw conclusions about which diets best support reproductive function. Nutritional Geometry offers an alternative approach, assessing outcomes of interest over an extended range of dietary macronutrient compositions. This review explores the practical application of Nutritional Geometry to study the effects of dietary macronutrient balance on male reproduction, including experimental considerations specific to studies of diet and reproductive physiology. Finally, this review discusses the promising use of Nutritional Geometry in the development of evidence-based pre-conception nutritional guidance for men.
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16
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Abstract
Despite mounting calls for predictive ecological approaches rooted in physiological performance currencies, the field of invasive species biology has lagged behind. For instance, successful invaders are often predicted to consume diverse foods, but the nutritional complexity of foods often leaves food-level analyses short of physiological mechanisms. The emerging field of nutritional geometry (NG) provides new theory and empirical tools to predict invasive potential based on fundamental and realized nutritional niches. We review recent advances and synthesize NG predictions about behavioral traits that favor invasive establishment, and evolutionary dynamics that promote invasive spread. We also provide practical advice for applying NG approaches, and discuss the power of nutrition to achieve a more predictive invasion biology that explicitly integrates physiological mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Z Shik
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama.
| | - Audrey Dussutour
- Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale (CRCA), Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), Université de Toulouse, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Unité Propre de Service (UPS), 31062, Toulouse, France.
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17
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Hosking CJ, Raubenheimer D, Charleston MA, Simpson SJ, Senior AM. Macronutrient intakes and the lifespan-fecundity trade-off: a geometric framework agent-based model. J R Soc Interface 2020; 16:20180733. [PMID: 30958189 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2018.0733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Lifespan and fecundity, the main components in evolutionary fitness, are both strongly affected by nutritional state. Geometric framework of nutrition (GFN) experiments has shown that lifespan and fecundity are separated in nutrient space leading to a functional trade-off between the two traits. Here we develop a spatially explicit agent-based model (ABM) using the GFN to explore how ecological factors may cause selection on macronutrient appetites to optimally balance these life-history traits. We show that increasing the risk of extrinsic mortality favours intake of a mixture of nutrients that is associated with maximal fecundity at the expense of reduced longevity and that this result is robust across spatial and nutritional environments. These model behaviours are consistent with what has been observed in studies that quantify changes in life history in response to environmental manipulations. Previous GFN-derived ABMs have treated fitness as a single value. This is the first such model to instead decompose fitness into its primary component traits, longevity and fecundity, allowing evolutionary fitness to be an emergent property of the two. Our model demonstrates that selection on macronutrient appetites may affect life-history trade-offs and makes predictions that can be directly tested in artificial selection experiments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cameron J Hosking
- 1 Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney , Sydney, New South Wales , Australia.,2 School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney , Sydney, New South Wales , Australia
| | - David Raubenheimer
- 1 Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney , Sydney, New South Wales , Australia.,2 School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney , Sydney, New South Wales , Australia
| | - Michael A Charleston
- 3 School of Physical Sciences, University of Tasmania , Hobart, Tasmania 7005 , Australia
| | - Stephen J Simpson
- 1 Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney , Sydney, New South Wales , Australia.,2 School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney , Sydney, New South Wales , Australia
| | - Alistair M Senior
- 1 Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney , Sydney, New South Wales , Australia.,2 School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney , Sydney, New South Wales , Australia
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18
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Abstract
Organismal fitness is partly determined by how well the nutritional intake matches sex-specific metabolic requirements. Metabolism itself is underpinned by complex genomic interactions involving products from both nuclear and mitochondrial genomes. Products from these two genomes must coordinate how nutrients are extracted, used and recycled, processes vital for fuelling reproduction. Given the complicated nature of metabolism, it is not well understood how the functioning of these two genomes is modulated by nutrients. Here we use nutritional geometry techniques on Drosophila lines that only differ in their mtDNA, with the aim to understand if there is nutrient-dependent mitochondrial genetic variance for male reproduction. We first find genetic variance for diet consumption, indicating that flies are consuming different amounts of food to meet new physiological requirements. We then find an interaction between mtDNA and diet for fitness, suggesting that the mtDNA plays a role in modulating diet-dependent fitness. Our results enhance our basic understanding of nutritional health and our chimeric genomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- M F Camus
- Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - J Moore
- Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - M Reuter
- Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
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19
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Berná G, Romero-Gomez M. The role of nutrition in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: Pathophysiology and management. Liver Int 2020; 40 Suppl 1:102-108. [PMID: 32077594 DOI: 10.1111/liv.14360] [Citation(s) in RCA: 107] [Impact Index Per Article: 26.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/25/2019] [Accepted: 12/26/2019] [Indexed: 02/13/2023]
Abstract
A healthy diet together with physical activity could induce weight loss and control the progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, the composition of diet has not been clearly established. Macronutrients such as saturated fatty acids (SFA), trans-fats, simple sugars and animal proteins have a harmful effect on the liver. On the other hand, monounsaturated fats (MUFAs), polyunsaturated (PUFAs) omega-3-fats, plant-based proteins and dietary fibres are considered to be beneficial to the liver. The impact of specific micronutrients is less well-known. Nutrients are part of the food we eat. Food makes up our meals, which compose our dietary patterns. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease patients usually follow Western diets which are rich in soda, frozen junk food, juice, red meat, lard, processed meats, whole fat dairy foods, fatty snack foods, take-away foods, cakes and biscuits and poor in cereals, whole grains, fruit, vegetables, extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) and fish. On the other hand, the Mediterranean diet (MD) is beneficial for NAFLD even when it is iso-caloric or there are no changes in body weight. A new approach, called 'nutritional geometry' considers the importance of integrating nutrition, animals and the environment. The goal of this approach is to combine nutrients and foods in a model to understand how food components interact to regulate the properties of diets affecting health and disease. The use of algorithms developed by artificial intelligence (AI) to create a personalized diet for patients can provide customized nutritional counselling to prevent and treat NAFLD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Genoveva Berná
- CABIMER, University Pablo Olavide and CIBERDEM, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Seville, Spain
| | - Manuel Romero-Gomez
- UCM Digestive Diseases and CIBERehd, Institute of Biomedicine of Seville (IBiS), SeLiver Group, Virgen del Rocío/CSIC/US, University of Seville, Seville, Spain
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20
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Crumière AJJ, Stephenson CJ, Nagel M, Shik JZ. Using Nutritional Geometry to Explore How Social Insects Navigate Nutritional Landscapes. Insects 2020; 11:E53. [PMID: 31952303 PMCID: PMC7022258 DOI: 10.3390/insects11010053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2019] [Revised: 01/11/2020] [Accepted: 01/11/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Insects face many cognitive challenges as they navigate nutritional landscapes that comprise their foraging environments with potential food items. The emerging field of nutritional geometry (NG) can help visualize these challenges, as well as the foraging solutions exhibited by insects. Social insect species must also make these decisions while integrating social information (e.g., provisioning kin) and/or offsetting nutrients provisioned to, or received from unrelated mutualists. In this review, we extend the logic of NG to make predictions about how cognitive challenges ramify across these social dimensions. Focusing on ants, we outline NG predictions in terms of fundamental and realized nutritional niches, considering when ants interact with related nestmates and unrelated bacterial, fungal, plant, and insect mutualists. The nutritional landscape framework we propose provides new avenues for hypothesis testing and for integrating cognition research with broader eco-evolutionary principles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonin J. J. Crumière
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Calum J. Stephenson
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Manuel Nagel
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Jonathan Z. Shik
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado Postal 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Panama
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21
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Ma Y, Bao H, Bencini R, Raubenheimer D, Dou H, Liu H, Wang S, Jiang G. Macro-Nutritional Adaptive Strategies of Moose ( Alces alces) Related to Population Density. Animals (Basel) 2019; 10:ani10010073. [PMID: 31906149 PMCID: PMC7022907 DOI: 10.3390/ani10010073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2019] [Revised: 12/13/2019] [Accepted: 12/21/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The distribution area of moose in China has been shrinking back toward the north and northeast because of climate change and human disturbance, and the population number has been declining. Between 2011 and 2015, we studied moose at six sites in the northeast of China during the snowy seasons. We collected fecal samples and plant samples that were used to estimate population densities for moose, as well as their macro-nutrient selection. Out of a total of 257 fecal samples collected at six sites, we identified a total of 120 individual moose (57 females and 63 males). The population density (moose/km2 ± SE) was highest at Hanma with 0.305 ± 0.064 moose/km2 and lowest at Meitian with only 0.028 ± 0.013 moose/km2. Forage availability was different among sites, with the lowest availability at Mohe (58.17 number/20 m2) and highest was Zhanhe (250.44 number/20 m2). Moose at Zhanhe, Hanma, and Nanwenghe had a balanced diet with higher N:C (1:7), while at Meitian, Shuanghe and Mohe the N:C was 1:8. Our results indicate that the southern areas had low forage quality and quantity and this may be the reason for the distribution of the population of moose shrinking northward.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yingjie Ma
- Feline Research Center of Chinese State Forestry Administration, College of Wildlife and Protected Areas, Northeast Forestry University, 26 Hexing Road, Harbin 150040, China; (Y.M.); (H.B.); (S.W.)
- Key Lab of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1-5 Beichenxi Road, Beijing 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Heng Bao
- Feline Research Center of Chinese State Forestry Administration, College of Wildlife and Protected Areas, Northeast Forestry University, 26 Hexing Road, Harbin 150040, China; (Y.M.); (H.B.); (S.W.)
| | - Roberta Bencini
- School of Agriculture and Environment, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Perth 6009, Australia;
| | - David Raubenheimer
- Charles Perkins Centre and School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia;
| | - Hongliang Dou
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Jinlin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, China;
| | - Hui Liu
- Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, No. 58, Renmin Avenue, Haikou 570228, China;
| | - Sirui Wang
- Feline Research Center of Chinese State Forestry Administration, College of Wildlife and Protected Areas, Northeast Forestry University, 26 Hexing Road, Harbin 150040, China; (Y.M.); (H.B.); (S.W.)
| | - Guangshun Jiang
- Feline Research Center of Chinese State Forestry Administration, College of Wildlife and Protected Areas, Northeast Forestry University, 26 Hexing Road, Harbin 150040, China; (Y.M.); (H.B.); (S.W.)
- Correspondence:
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22
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Kraus S, Gómez-Moracho T, Pasquaretta C, Latil G, Dussutour A, Lihoreau M. Bumblebees adjust protein and lipid collection rules to the presence of brood. Curr Zool 2019; 65:437-446. [PMID: 31413716 PMCID: PMC6688571 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zoz026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2018] [Accepted: 05/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Animals have evolved foraging strategies to acquire blends of nutrients that maximize fitness traits. In social insects, nutrient regulation is complicated by the fact that few individuals, the foragers, must address the divergent nutritional needs of all colony members simultaneously, including other workers, the reproductives, and the brood. Here we used 3D nutritional geometry design to examine how bumblebee workers regulate their collection of 3 major macronutrients in the presence and absence of brood. We provided small colonies artificial nectars (liquid diets) and pollens (solid diets) varying in their compositions of proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates during 2 weeks. Colonies given a choice between nutritionally complementary diets self-selected foods to reach a target ratio of 71% proteins, 6% carbohydrates, and 23% lipids, irrespective of the presence of brood. When confined to a single nutritionally imbalanced solid diet, colonies without brood regulated lipid collection and over-collected protein relative to this target ratio, whereas colonies with brood regulated both lipid and protein collection. This brood effect on the regulation of nutrient collection by workers suggests that protein levels are critical for larval development. Our results highlight the importance of considering bee nutrition as a multidimensional phenomenon to better assess the effects of environmental impoverishment and malnutrition on population declines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stéphane Kraus
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Intergrative Biology (CBI); CNRS, University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
| | - Tamara Gómez-Moracho
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Intergrative Biology (CBI); CNRS, University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
| | - Cristian Pasquaretta
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Intergrative Biology (CBI); CNRS, University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
| | - Gérard Latil
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Intergrative Biology (CBI); CNRS, University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
| | - Audrey Dussutour
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Intergrative Biology (CBI); CNRS, University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
| | - Mathieu Lihoreau
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Intergrative Biology (CBI); CNRS, University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
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23
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Moatt JP, Fyfe MA, Heap E, Mitchell LJM, Moon F, Walling CA. Reconciling nutritional geometry with classical dietary restriction: Effects of nutrient intake, not calories, on survival and reproduction. Aging Cell 2019; 18:e12868. [PMID: 30456818 PMCID: PMC6352320 DOI: 10.1111/acel.12868] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2018] [Revised: 08/15/2018] [Accepted: 09/16/2018] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Dietary restriction (DR) is one of the main experimental paradigms to investigate the mechanisms that determine lifespan and aging. Yet, the exact nutritional parameters responsible for DR remain unclear. Recently, the advent of the geometric framework of nutrition (GF) has refocussed interest from calories to dietary macronutrients. However, GF experiments focus on invertebrates, with the importance of macronutrients in vertebrates still widely debated. This has led to the suggestion of a fundamental difference in the mode of action of DR between vertebrates and invertebrates, questioning the suggestion of an evolutionarily conserved mechanism. The use of dietary dilution rather than restriction in GF studies makes comparison with traditional DR studies difficult. Here, using a novel nonmodel vertebrate system (the stickleback fish, Gasterosteus aculeatus), we test the effect of macronutrient versus calorie intake on key fitness‐related traits, both using the GF and avoiding dietary dilution. We find that the intake of macronutrients rather than calories determines both mortality risk and reproduction. Male mortality risk was lowest on intermediate lipid intakes, and female risk was generally reduced by low protein intakes. The effect of macronutrient intake on reproduction was similar between the sexes, with high protein intakes maximizing reproduction. Our results provide, to our knowledge, the first evidence that macronutrient, not caloric, intake predicts changes in mortality and reproduction in the absence of dietary dilution. This supports the suggestion of evolutionary conservation in the effect of diet on lifespan, but via variation in macronutrient intake rather than calories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua P. Moatt
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences; University of Edinburgh; Edinburgh UK
| | - Murray A. Fyfe
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences; University of Edinburgh; Edinburgh UK
| | - Elizabeth Heap
- Edinburgh Genomics, Roslin Institute; University of Edinburgh; Edinburgh UK
| | - Luke J. M. Mitchell
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences; University of Edinburgh; Edinburgh UK
| | - Fiona Moon
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences; University of Edinburgh; Edinburgh UK
| | - Craig A. Walling
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences; University of Edinburgh; Edinburgh UK
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24
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Pasquaretta C, Gómez-Moracho T, Heeb P, Lihoreau M. Exploring Interactions between the Gut Microbiota and Social Behavior through Nutrition. Genes (Basel) 2018; 9:E534. [PMID: 30404178 PMCID: PMC6266758 DOI: 10.3390/genes9110534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2018] [Revised: 10/29/2018] [Accepted: 10/30/2018] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Microbes influence a wide range of host social behaviors and vice versa. So far, however, the mechanisms underpinning these complex interactions remain poorly understood. In social animals, where individuals share microbes and interact around foods, the gut microbiota may have considerable consequences on host social interactions by acting upon the nutritional behavior of individual animals. Here we illustrate how conceptual advances in nutritional ecology can help the study of these processes and allow the formulation of new empirically testable predictions. First, we review key evidence showing that gut microbes influence the nutrition of individual animals, through modifications of their nutritional state and feeding decisions. Next, we describe how these microbial influences and their social consequences can be studied by modelling populations of hosts and their gut microbiota into a single conceptual framework derived from nutritional geometry. Our approach raises new perspectives for the study of holobiont nutrition and will facilitate theoretical and experimental research on the role of the gut microbiota in the mechanisms and evolution of social behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristian Pasquaretta
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI), CNRS, University Paul Sabatier, 31062 Toulouse, France.
| | - Tamara Gómez-Moracho
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI), CNRS, University Paul Sabatier, 31062 Toulouse, France.
| | - Philipp Heeb
- Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique, UMR 5174 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Paul Sabatier, ENSFEA, 31062 Toulouse, France.
| | - Mathieu Lihoreau
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI), CNRS, University Paul Sabatier, 31062 Toulouse, France.
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25
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Dunham NT, Rodriguez-Saona LE. Nutrient intake and balancing among female Colobus angolensis palliatus inhabiting structurally distinct forest areas: Effects of group, season, and reproductive state. Am J Primatol 2018; 80:e22878. [PMID: 29882365 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.22878] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2017] [Revised: 05/03/2018] [Accepted: 05/17/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Understanding intraspecific behavioral and dietary variation is critical for assessing primate populations' abilities to persist in habitats characterized by increasing anthropogenic disturbances. While it is evident that some species exhibit considerable dietary flexibility (in terms of species-specific plant parts) in relation to habitat disturbance, it is unclear if primates are characterized by similar variation and flexibility regarding nutrient intake. This study examined the effects of group, season, and reproductive state on nutrient intake and balancing in adult female Colobus angolensis palliatus in the Diani Forest, Kenya. During July 2014 to December 2015, estimates of nutrient intake were recorded for eight females from three groups inhabiting structurally and ecologically distinct forest areas differing in tree species composition and density. There were differences in metabolizable energy (ME) and macronutrient intakes among groups, seasons, and reproductive states. Most notably, females inhabiting one of the more disturbed forest areas consumed less ME and macronutrients compared to females in the more intact forest area. Contrary to prediction, females in early lactation consumed significantly less ME and macronutrients compared to non-lactating and late lactation females. Despite differences in macronutrient intake, the relative contribution of macronutrients to ME were generally more conservative among groups, seasons, and reproductive states. Average daily intake ratios of non-protein energy to available protein ranged from approximately 3.5:1-4.3:1 among groups. These results indicate that female C. a. palliatus demonstrate a consistent nutrient balancing strategy despite significant intergroup differences in consumption of species-specific plant parts. Data from additional colobine species inhabiting different forest types are required to assess the extent to which nutrient balancing is constrained by phylogeny or is more flexible to local ecological conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noah T Dunham
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, Ohio
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26
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Yuan L, Wilder S, Raubenheimer D, Simpson SJ, Shaw M, McAllan BM. Dietary protein supplementation and its consequences for intake, digestion, and physical activity of a carnivorous marsupial, Sminthopsis crassicaudata. Ecol Evol 2018; 8:3636-3647. [PMID: 29686845 PMCID: PMC5901163 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.3843] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2017] [Revised: 12/14/2017] [Accepted: 12/22/2017] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Diet regulation behavior can mediate the consequences of imbalanced diets for animal well-being, particularly for captive species that have little dietary choice. Dasyurids (carnivorous marsupials) are of conservation concern in Australia, and many species are in captive breeding programmes. However, their nutrient targets and dietary regulation behaviors are poorly understood, a limitation that may decrease the breeding success and well-being of captive animals. We tested how dietary protein content influenced the intake and utilization of nutrients, physical activity, and body mass of fat-tailed dunnarts Sminthopsis crassicaudata. Twelve adult dunnarts from six sibling pairs (one female and one male per pair) were provided ad libitum access to three diets in a repeated measures design: cat food, cat food supplemented with raw lean beef (1:1), and cat food supplemented with cooked lean beef (1:1). Food intake, activity level, and fecal output were measured daily. Dunnarts significantly decreased food intake, increased protein digestion, and physical activity, but body mass was unchanged when on the high-protein diet compared to the normal cat food diet. These observations suggest a capacity of dunnarts to maintain constant body mass using a dynamic balance of feeding, digestion, and activity. We also found a significant effect of family, with differences between families as large as the difference between the diet treatments, suggesting a genetic component to diet selection. The nutrient regulation responses of dunnarts to high-protein diets and the strong family effects provide important messages for the management of populations of small carnivores, including the aspects of dietary manipulation and conservation of genetic diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lihong Yuan
- School of Public Health Sun Yat-Sen University Guangzhou Guangdong Province China.,School of Medical Sciences University of Sydney Sydney NSW Australia.,Present address: School of Public Health Sun Yat-Sen University Guangzhou Guangdong Province China
| | - Shawn Wilder
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences and Charles Perkins Centre University of Sydney Sydney NSW Australia.,Department of Integrative Biology Oklahoma State University Stillwater OK USA
| | - David Raubenheimer
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences and Charles Perkins Centre University of Sydney Sydney NSW Australia
| | - Stephen J Simpson
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences and Charles Perkins Centre University of Sydney Sydney NSW Australia
| | - Michelle Shaw
- Department of Animal Nutrition Taronga Conservation Society Mosman NSW 2088 Australia
| | - Bronwyn M McAllan
- School of Medical Sciences University of Sydney Sydney NSW Australia
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27
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Lihoreau M, Charleston MA, Senior AM, Clissold FJ, Raubenheimer D, Simpson SJ, Buhl J. Collective foraging in spatially complex nutritional environments. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2018; 372:rstb.2016.0238. [PMID: 28673915 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2016.0238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/01/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Nutrition impinges on virtually all aspects of an animal's life, including social interactions. Recent advances in nutritional ecology show how social animals often trade-off individual nutrition and group cohesion when foraging in simplified experimental environments. Here, we explore how the spatial structure of the nutritional landscape influences these complex collective foraging dynamics in ecologically realistic environments. We introduce an individual-based model integrating key concepts of nutritional geometry, collective animal behaviour and spatial ecology to study the nutritional behaviour of animal groups in large heterogeneous environments containing foods with different abundance, patchiness and nutritional composition. Simulations show that the spatial distribution of foods constrains the ability of individuals to balance their nutrient intake, the lowest performance being attained in environments with small isolated patches of nutritionally complementary foods. Social interactions improve individual regulatory performances when food is scarce and clumpy, but not when it is abundant and scattered, suggesting that collective foraging is favoured in some environments only. These social effects are further amplified if foragers adopt flexible search strategies based on their individual nutritional state. Our model provides a conceptual and predictive framework for developing new empirically testable hypotheses in the emerging field of social nutrition.This article is part of the themed issue 'Physiological determinants of social behaviour in animals'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathieu Lihoreau
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI), University Paul Sabatier, CNRS, UPS, 118 route de Narbonne, Toulouse 31200, France
| | - Michael A Charleston
- School of Physical Sciences, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania 7005, Australia
| | - Alistair M Senior
- Charles Perkins Centre, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania 7005, Australia.,School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania 7005, Australia
| | - Fiona J Clissold
- Charles Perkins Centre, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania 7005, Australia.,School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - David Raubenheimer
- Charles Perkins Centre, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania 7005, Australia.,School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Stephen J Simpson
- Charles Perkins Centre, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania 7005, Australia.,School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Jerome Buhl
- School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, The University of Adelaide, Waite Campus, Southern Australia 5005, Australia
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28
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Young Y, Buckiewicz N, Long TAF. Nutritional geometry and fitness consequences in Drosophila suzukii, the Spotted-Wing Drosophila. Ecol Evol 2018; 8:2842-2851. [PMID: 29531699 PMCID: PMC5838031 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.3849] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2017] [Revised: 12/13/2017] [Accepted: 12/19/2017] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Since its arrival to North America less than a decade ago, the invasive Spotted-Wing Drosophila (Drosophila suzukii) has inflicted substantial economic losses on soft fruit agriculture due to its ability to oviposit into ripening fruits. More effective management approaches for this species are needed, but little is known about the factors that influence behavioral choices made by D. suzukii when selecting hosts, or the consequences that their offspring experience when developing in different environments. Using a nutritional geometry methodology, we found that the ratio of proteins-to-carbohydrates (P:C) present in media greatly influenced adult D. suzukii behavior and subsequent offspring development. Whereas adult flies showed a strong bias in their oviposition and association behaviors toward carbohydrate-rich foods, larval survival and eclosion rate were strongly dependent on protein availability. Here, we explore the preference-performance hypothesis (PPH), in which females are predicted to oviposit on medias that provide the greatest offspring benefits, in regard to its relevance in D. suzukii behavior and consequences for management. Our results provide valuable insight into the ecology and evolution of this species that may hopefully lead to more effective management strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yvonne Young
- Department of BiologyWilfrid Laurier UniversityWaterlooONCanada
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29
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Malod K, Archer CR, Hunt J, Nicolson SW, Weldon CW. Effects of macronutrient intake on the lifespan and fecundity of the marula fruit fly, Ceratitis cosyra (Tephritidae): Extreme lifespan in a host specialist. Ecol Evol 2017; 7:9808-9817. [PMID: 29188010 PMCID: PMC5696426 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.3543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2017] [Revised: 09/11/2017] [Accepted: 09/14/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
In insects, lifespan and reproduction are strongly associated with nutrition. The ratio and amount of nutrients individuals consume affect their life expectancy and reproductive investment. The geometric framework (GF) enables us to explore how animals regulate their intake of multiple nutrients simultaneously and determine how these nutrients interact to affect life-history traits of interest. Studies using the GF on host-generalist tephritid flies have highlighted trade-offs between longevity and reproductive effort in females, mediated by the protein-to-carbohydrate (P:C) ratio that individuals consume. Here, we tested how P and C intake affect lifespan (LS) in both sexes, and female lifetime (LEP), and daily (DEP) egg production, in Ceratitis cosyra, a host-specialist tephritid fly. We then determined the P:C ratio that C. cosyra defends when offered a choice of foods. Female LS was optimized at a 0:1 P:C ratio, whereas to maximize their fecundity, females needed to consume a higher P:C ratio (LEP = 1:6 P:C; DEP = 1:2.5 P:C). In males, LS was also optimized at a low P:C ratio of 1:10. However, when given the opportunity to regulate their intake, both sexes actively defended a 1:3 P:C ratio, which is closer to the target for DEP than either LS or LEP. Our results show that female C. cosyra experienced a moderate trade-off between LS and fecundity. Moreover, the diets that maximized expression of LEP and DEP were of lower P:C ratio than those required for optimal expression of these traits in host-generalist tephritids or other generalist insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin Malod
- Department of Zoology and Entomology University of Pretoria Hatfield South Africa
| | - C Ruth Archer
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation College of Life and Environmental Sciences University of Exeter Cornwall UK
| | - John Hunt
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation College of Life and Environmental Sciences University of Exeter Cornwall UK.,School of Science and Health Western Sydney University Penrith NSW Australia
| | - Susan W Nicolson
- Department of Zoology and Entomology University of Pretoria Hatfield South Africa
| | - Christopher W Weldon
- Department of Zoology and Entomology University of Pretoria Hatfield South Africa
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30
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Shingleton AW, Masandika JR, Thorsen LS, Zhu Y, Mirth CK. The sex-specific effects of diet quality versus quantity on morphology in Drosophila melanogaster. R Soc Open Sci 2017; 4:170375. [PMID: 28989746 PMCID: PMC5627086 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.170375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2017] [Accepted: 08/03/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Variation in the quality and quantity of nutrition is a major contributor to phenotypic variation in animal populations. Although we know much of how dietary restriction impacts phenotype, and of the molecular-genetic and physiological mechanisms that underlie this response, we know much less of the effects of dietary imbalance. Specifically, although dietary imbalance and restriction both reduce overall body size, it is unclear whether both have the same effect on the size of individual traits. Here, we use the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster to explore the effect of dietary food versus protein-to-carbohydrate ratio on body proportion and trait size. Our results indicate that body proportion and trait size respond differently to changes in diet quantity (food concentration) versus diet quality (protein-to-carbohydrate ratio), and that these effects are sex specific. While these differences suggest that Drosophila use at least partially distinct developmental mechanisms to respond to diet quality versus quantity, further analysis indicates that the responses can be largely explained by the independent and contrasting effects of protein and carbohydrate concentration on trait size. Our data highlight the importance of considering macronutrient composition when elucidating the effect of nutrition on trait size, at the levels of both morphology and developmental physiology.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Lily S. Thorsen
- Department of Biology, Lake Forest College, Lake Forest, IL 60045, USA
| | - Yuqing Zhu
- Department of Biology, Lake Forest College, Lake Forest, IL 60045, USA
- Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences, Washington University, St Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Christen K. Mirth
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
- Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Rua da Quinta Grande 6, 2780-156 Oeiras, Portugal
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31
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Cabana F, Plowman A, Van Nguyen T, Chin SC, Wu SL, Lo HY, Watabe H, Yamamoto F. Feeding Asian pangolins: An assessment of current diets fed in institutions worldwide. Zoo Biol 2017. [PMID: 28635047 DOI: 10.1002/zoo.21375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Pangolins are ant specialists which are under intense threat from the illegal wildlife trade. Nutrition has notoriously been their downfall in captivity and is still an issue in regards to rescue and rehabilitation. We analyzed the nutrient content of diets used by institutions that are successfully keeping Asian pangolins and to assess the variety of the ingredients and nutrients, compared these with the nutritional requirements of potential nutritional model species. We performed intake studies at five institutions and also had data from three other institutions. We also analyzed five different wild food items to use as a proxy of wild diet. We observed two categories of captive diets: those mostly or completely composed of insects and those high in commercial feeds or animal meat. Nutrient values were broad and there was no clear rule. The non-protein energy to protein energy ratio of the diets were much higher than the wild food items, more so for those which receive less insects. The average contribution of carbohydrate, fat and protein energy were also further away from the wild samples the less insects they contained. The previously suggested nutritional model for pangolins is the domestic dog which is supported by our relatively large nutrient ranges of apparently successful diets, however due to their highly carnivorous nature; the upper most nutrient intake data are not consistent with this and favor the feline nutrient recommendations. We are unable to render a conclusion of what model is more appropriate based on our data collected.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francis Cabana
- Wildlife Nutrition Centre, Wildlife Reserves Singapore, Singapore
| | - Amy Plowman
- Paignton Zoo Environmental Park, Paignton, United Kingdom
| | - Thai Van Nguyen
- Save Vietnam's Wildlife, Cuc Phuong National Park, Ha Noi, Vietnam
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32
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Holmes AJ, Chew YV, Colakoglu F, Cliff JB, Klaassens E, Read MN, Solon-Biet SM, McMahon AC, Cogger VC, Ruohonen K, Raubenheimer D, Le Couteur DG, Simpson SJ. Diet-Microbiome Interactions in Health Are Controlled by Intestinal Nitrogen Source Constraints. Cell Metab 2017; 25:140-151. [PMID: 27889387 DOI: 10.1016/j.cmet.2016.10.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 116] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2016] [Revised: 08/30/2016] [Accepted: 10/28/2016] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Diet influences health and patterns of disease in populations. How different diets do this and why outcomes of diets vary between individuals are complex and involve interaction with the gut microbiome. A major challenge for predicting health outcomes of the host-microbiome dynamic is reconciling the effects of different aspects of diet (food composition or intake rate) on the system. Here we show that microbial community assembly is fundamentally shaped by a dichotomy in bacterial strategies to access nitrogen in the gut environment. Consequently, the pattern of dietary protein intake constrains the host-microbiome dynamic in ways that are common to a very broad range of diet manipulation strategies. These insights offer a mechanism for the impact of high protein intake on metabolic health and form the basis for a general theory of the impact of different diet strategies on host-microbiome outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew J Holmes
- Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia; School of Life and Environmental Science, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
| | - Yi Vee Chew
- School of Life and Environmental Science, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Feyza Colakoglu
- School of Life and Environmental Science, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - John B Cliff
- The Centre for Microscopy, Characterization, and Analysis, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
| | - Eline Klaassens
- Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia; School of Life and Environmental Science, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Mark N Read
- Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia; School of Life and Environmental Science, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Samantha M Solon-Biet
- Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia; School of Life and Environmental Science, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia; Centre for Education and Research on Aging, and Aging and Alzheimers Institute, Concord Hospital, Sydney, NSW 2139, Australia; ANZAC Research Institute, Sydney, NSW 2139, Australia
| | - Aisling C McMahon
- Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia; Centre for Education and Research on Aging, and Aging and Alzheimers Institute, Concord Hospital, Sydney, NSW 2139, Australia; ANZAC Research Institute, Sydney, NSW 2139, Australia
| | - Victoria C Cogger
- Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia; Centre for Education and Research on Aging, and Aging and Alzheimers Institute, Concord Hospital, Sydney, NSW 2139, Australia; ANZAC Research Institute, Sydney, NSW 2139, Australia
| | | | - David Raubenheimer
- Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia; School of Life and Environmental Science, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - David G Le Couteur
- Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia; Centre for Education and Research on Aging, and Aging and Alzheimers Institute, Concord Hospital, Sydney, NSW 2139, Australia; ANZAC Research Institute, Sydney, NSW 2139, Australia
| | - Stephen J Simpson
- Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia; School of Life and Environmental Science, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
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33
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Senior AM, Lihoreau M, Charleston MA, Buhl J, Raubenheimer D, Simpson SJ. Adaptive collective foraging in groups with conflicting nutritional needs. R Soc Open Sci 2016; 3:150638. [PMID: 27152206 PMCID: PMC4852629 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.150638] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2015] [Accepted: 03/15/2016] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Collective foraging, based on positive feedback and quorum responses, is believed to improve the foraging efficiency of animals. Nutritional models suggest that social information transfer increases the ability of foragers with closely aligned nutritional needs to find nutrients and maintain a balanced diet. However, whether or not collective foraging is adaptive in a heterogeneous group composed of individuals with differing nutritional needs is virtually unexplored. Here we develop an evolutionary agent-based model using concepts of nutritional ecology to address this knowledge gap. Our aim was to evaluate how collective foraging, mediated by social retention on foods, can improve nutrient balancing in individuals with different requirements. The model suggests that in groups where inter-individual nutritional needs are unimodally distributed, high levels of collective foraging yield optimal individual fitness by reducing search times that result from moving between nutritionally imbalanced foods. However, where nutritional needs are highly bimodal (e.g. where the requirements of males and females differ) collective foraging is selected against, leading to group fission. In this case, additional mechanisms such as assortative interactions can coevolve to allow collective foraging by subgroups of individuals with aligned requirements. Our findings indicate that collective foraging is an efficient strategy for nutrient regulation in animals inhabiting complex nutritional environments and exhibiting a range of social forms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alistair M. Senior
- Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Mathieu Lihoreau
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI), Toulouse University, CNRS, UPS, France
| | - Michael A. Charleston
- School of Physical Sciences, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania 7005, Australia
| | - Jerome Buhl
- School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia
| | - David Raubenheimer
- Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
- Faculty of Veterinary Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Stephen J. Simpson
- Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
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34
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Ponton F, Wilson K, Holmes A, Raubenheimer D, Robinson KL, Simpson SJ. Macronutrients mediate the functional relationship between Drosophila and Wolbachia. Proc Biol Sci 2016; 282:20142029. [PMID: 25520356 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2014.2029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Wolbachia are maternally inherited bacterial endosymbionts that naturally infect a diverse array of arthropods. They are primarily known for their manipulation of host reproductive biology, and recently, infections with Wolbachia have been proposed as a new strategy for controlling insect vectors and subsequent human-transmissible diseases. Yet, Wolbachia abundance has been shown to vary greatly between individuals and the magnitude of the effects of infection on host life-history traits and protection against infection is correlated to within-host Wolbachia abundance. It is therefore essential to better understand the factors that modulate Wolbachia abundance and effects on host fitness. Nutrition is known to be one of the most important mediators of host-symbiont interactions. Here, we used nutritional geometry to quantify the role of macronutrients on insect-Wolbachia relationships in Drosophila melanogaster. Our results show fundamental interactions between diet composition, host diet selection, Wolbachia abundance and effects on host lifespan and fecundity. The results and methods described here open a new avenue in the study of insect-Wolbachia relationships and are of general interest to numerous research disciplines, ranging from nutrition and life-history theory to public health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fleur Ponton
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Kenneth Wilson
- Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, UK
| | - Andrew Holmes
- Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia School of Molecular Bioscience, The University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - David Raubenheimer
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia Faculty of Veterinary Science, The University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Katie L Robinson
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Stephen J Simpson
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
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35
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Senior AM, Lihoreau M, Buhl J, Raubenheimer D, Simpson SJ. Social Network Analysis and Nutritional Behavior: An Integrated Modeling Approach. Front Psychol 2016; 7:18. [PMID: 26858671 PMCID: PMC4731493 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2015] [Accepted: 01/06/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Animals have evolved complex foraging strategies to obtain a nutritionally balanced diet and associated fitness benefits. Recent research combining state-space models of nutritional geometry with agent-based models (ABMs), show how nutrient targeted foraging behavior can also influence animal social interactions, ultimately affecting collective dynamics and group structures. Here we demonstrate how social network analyses can be integrated into such a modeling framework and provide a practical analytical tool to compare experimental results with theory. We illustrate our approach by examining the case of nutritionally mediated dominance hierarchies. First we show how nutritionally explicit ABMs that simulate the emergence of dominance hierarchies can be used to generate social networks. Importantly the structural properties of our simulated networks bear similarities to dominance networks of real animals (where conflicts are not always directly related to nutrition). Finally, we demonstrate how metrics from social network analyses can be used to predict the fitness of agents in these simulated competitive environments. Our results highlight the potential importance of nutritional mechanisms in shaping dominance interactions in a wide range of social and ecological contexts. Nutrition likely influences social interactions in many species, and yet a theoretical framework for exploring these effects is currently lacking. Combining social network analyses with computational models from nutritional ecology may bridge this divide, representing a pragmatic approach for generating theoretical predictions for nutritional experiments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alistair M. Senior
- Charles Perkins Centre, The University of SydneySydney, NSW, Australia
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of SydneySydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Mathieu Lihoreau
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition AnimaleToulouse, France
- Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, Université Paul SabatierToulouse, France
| | - Jerome Buhl
- School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, The University of AdelaideAdelaide, SA, Australia
| | - David Raubenheimer
- Charles Perkins Centre, The University of SydneySydney, NSW, Australia
- Faculty of Veterinary Science, The University of SydneySydney, NSW, Australia
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of SydneySydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Stephen J. Simpson
- Charles Perkins Centre, The University of SydneySydney, NSW, Australia
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of SydneySydney, NSW, Australia
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36
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Bunning H, Rapkin J, Belcher L, Archer CR, Jensen K, Hunt J. Protein and carbohydrate intake influence sperm number and fertility in male cockroaches, but not sperm viability. Proc Biol Sci 2016; 282:rspb.2014.2144. [PMID: 25608881 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2014.2144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
It is commonly assumed that because males produce many, tiny sperm, they are cheap to produce. Recent work, however, suggests that sperm production is not cost-free. If sperm are costly to produce, sperm number and/or viability should be influenced by diet, and this has been documented in numerous species. Yet few studies have examined the exact nutrients responsible for mediating these effects. Here, we quantify the effects of protein (P) and carbohydrate (C) intake on sperm number and viability in the cockroach Nauphoeta cinerea, as well as the consequences for male fertility. We found the intake of P and C influenced sperm number, being maximized at a high intake of diets with a P : C ratio of 1 : 2, but not sperm viability. The nutritional landscapes for male fertility and sperm number were closely aligned, suggesting that sperm number is the major determinant of male fertility in N. cinerea. Under dietary choice, males regulate nutrient intake at a P : C ratio of 1 : 4.95, which is midway between the ratios needed to maximize sperm production and pre-copulatory attractiveness in this species. This raises the possibility that males regulate nutrient intake to balance the trade-off between pre- and post-copulatory traits in this species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Harriet Bunning
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Tremough Campus, Penryn TR10 9EZ, UK
| | - James Rapkin
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Tremough Campus, Penryn TR10 9EZ, UK
| | - Laurence Belcher
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Tremough Campus, Penryn TR10 9EZ, UK
| | - C Ruth Archer
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Tremough Campus, Penryn TR10 9EZ, UK Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Konrad-Zuse-Strasse 1, 18057 Rostock, Germany
| | - Kim Jensen
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Tremough Campus, Penryn TR10 9EZ, UK Department of Entomology, North Carolina State University, Gardner Hall, Raleigh, NC 27695-7613, USA
| | - John Hunt
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Tremough Campus, Penryn TR10 9EZ, UK
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Aryal A, Coogan SCP, Ji W, Rothman JM, Raubenheimer D. Foods, macronutrients and fibre in the diet of blue sheep (Psuedois nayaur) in the Annapurna Conservation Area of Nepal. Ecol Evol 2015; 5:4006-17. [PMID: 26445655 PMCID: PMC4588638 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.1661] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2015] [Revised: 07/12/2015] [Accepted: 07/25/2015] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Food resources are often critical regulating factors affecting individual fitness and population densities. In the Himalayan Mountains, Bharal “blue sheep” (Pseudois nayaur) are the main food resource for the endangered snow leopard (Panthera uncia), as well as being preyed upon by other predators. Blue sheep, however, may face a number of challenges including food resource competition with other wild and domestic ungulates, and hunting pressure. Here, we characterized the diet of blue sheep in the Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA) of Nepal and conducted proximate nutritional analysis on a limited number of plants identified as foods. Furthermore, we investigated the macronutrient and fiber balance of these plants using nutritional geometry which is a state‐space approach to modeling multidimensional and interactive nutritional aspects of foraging. A total of 19 plant species/genera were identified in blue sheep pellets using microhistological analysis. On average, across seasons and regions of the study area, the two most frequently occurring plants in pellets were graminoids: Kobressia sp. and Carex spp. The macronutrient balance of Kobresia sp. was relatively high in carbohydrate and low in protein, while other plants in the diet were generally higher in protein and lipid content. Analysis of fiber balance showed that the two most consumed plants of blue sheep (i.e., Kobresia spp. and Carex spp.) contained the highest concentration of hemicellulose, which is likely digestible by blue sheep. The hemicellulose and lignin balance of plants ranged relatively widely, yet their cellulose contents showed less variation. Foraging by blue sheep may therefore be a balance between consuming highly digestible high‐carbohydrate plants and plants less‐digestible but higher in protein and/or lipid.
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Affiliation(s)
- Achyut Aryal
- Institute of Natural and Mathematical Sciences Massey University Auckland New Zealand
| | - Sean C P Coogan
- The Charles Perkins Centre, and School of Biological Sciences University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales 2006 Australia
| | - Weihong Ji
- Institute of Natural and Mathematical Sciences Massey University Auckland New Zealand
| | - Jessica M Rothman
- Department of Anthropology, Hunter College City University of New York New York City New York
| | - David Raubenheimer
- Institute of Natural and Mathematical Sciences Massey University Auckland New Zealand ; The Charles Perkins Centre Faculty of Veterinary Science, and School of Biological Sciences University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales 2006 Australia
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Harrison SJ, Raubenheimer D, Simpson SJ, Godin JGJ, Bertram SM. Towards a synthesis of frameworks in nutritional ecology: interacting effects of protein, carbohydrate and phosphorus on field cricket fitness. Proc Biol Sci 2015; 281:rspb.2014.0539. [PMID: 25143029 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2014.0539] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Phosphorus has been identified as an important determinant of nutrition-related biological variation. The macronutrients protein (P) and carbohydrates (C), both alone and interactively, are known to affect animal performance. No study, however, has investigated the importance of phosphorus relative to dietary protein or carbohydrates, or the interactive effects of phosphorus with these macronutrients, on fitness-related traits in animals. We used a nutritional geometry framework to address this question in adult field crickets (Gryllus veletis). Our results showed that lifespan, weight gain, acoustic mate signalling and egg production were maximized on diets with different P : C ratios, that phosphorus did not positively affect any of these fitness traits, and that males and females had different optimal macronutrient intake ratios for reproductive performance. When given a choice, crickets selected diets that maximized both lifespan and reproductive performance by preferentially eating diets with low P : C ratios, and females selected diets with a higher P : C ratio than males. Conversely, phosphorus intake was not regulated. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of disentangling the influences of different nutrients, and of quantifying both their individual and interactive effects, on animal fitness traits, so as to gain a more integrative understanding of their nutritional ecology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah J Harrison
- Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1S 5B6
| | - David Raubenheimer
- Charles Perkins Centre and School of Biological Sciences and Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Stephen J Simpson
- Charles Perkins Centre and School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Jean-Guy J Godin
- Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1S 5B6
| | - Susan M Bertram
- Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1S 5B6
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Lihoreau M, Buhl J, Charleston MA, Sword GA, Raubenheimer D, Simpson SJ. Nutritional ecology beyond the individual: a conceptual framework for integrating nutrition and social interactions. Ecol Lett 2015; 18:273-86. [PMID: 25586099 PMCID: PMC4342766 DOI: 10.1111/ele.12406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2014] [Accepted: 11/30/2014] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Over recent years, modelling approaches from nutritional ecology (known as Nutritional Geometry) have been increasingly used to describe how animals and some other organisms select foods and eat them in appropriate amounts in order to maintain a balanced nutritional state maximising fitness. These nutritional strategies profoundly affect the physiology, behaviour and performance of individuals, which in turn impact their social interactions within groups and societies. Here, we present a conceptual framework to study the role of nutrition as a major ecological factor influencing the development and maintenance of social life. We first illustrate some of the mechanisms by which nutritional differences among individuals mediate social interactions in a broad range of species and ecological contexts. We then explain how studying individual- and collective-level nutrition in a common conceptual framework derived from Nutritional Geometry can bring new fundamental insights into the mechanisms and evolution of social interactions, using a combination of simulation models and manipulative experiments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathieu Lihoreau
- Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia; School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
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Abstract
Dietary Restriction extends lifespan in a diverse range of animals, but this often comes at a cost to reproduction. While a number of molecular pathways integral to these relationships have been characterised, we still do not fully understand whether restriction of specific nutrients or calories is responsible. Two recent studies on insects have offered novel insights into this longstanding issue via the application of Nutritional Geometry. This technique promises to significantly advance our understanding of how nutrition influences reproduction and longevity.
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Affiliation(s)
- C. Ruth Archer
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, School of Biosciences, University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus, Penryn
| | - Nick Royle
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, School of Biosciences, University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus, Penryn
| | - Sandra South
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, School of Biosciences, University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus, Penryn
| | - Colin Selman
- Integrative Physiology, Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen
| | - John Hunt
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, School of Biosciences, University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus, Penryn
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