Selection and use of feeding sites and feeding stations by herbivores: A review

Selection et utilisation des sites et stations alimentaires par les herbivores: Une revue. A terme, mieux comprendre la relation animal - vegetation est necessaire pour developper des systemes de gestion qui favorisent le maintien par le pâturage d'une ressource suffisamment riche et abondante. Dans ces conditions, l'animal peut couvrir ses besoins nutritionnels et assurer une productivite suffisante, tout en participant a l'entretien du milieu. Cette revue fait le point, a partir d'un grand nombre de travaux experimentaux, sur les facteurs qui influencent la selection et l'utilisation des sites et stations alimentaires par les herbivores. La premiere partie est consacree au cadre theorique dans lequel sont discutees les observations experimentales. Le contexte general de la theorie de l'alimentation optimale (TAO), et ses predictions, sont decrits. L'« applicabilite », l'utilite et la validite des modeles d'optimisation dans l'etude du comportement alimentaire des herbivores sont tout particulierement considerees. Ensuite, est etudiee l'influence des differents facteurs, trophiques (quantite et qualite des ressources fourrageres, distribution des especes vegetales), environnementaux (topographie, distance aux points d'eau, presence d'abris et risques de predation) et animaux (capacites cognitives et organisation sociale) sur la selection et l'utilisation des sites et des stations alimentaires par les herbivores. En depit de quelques problemes de definitions (patch, proie pour un herbivore?) et des caracteristiques specifiques des especes animales etudiees, la TAO a pu etre appliquee, avec succes, a l'etude des strategies alimentaires des herbivores. Cependant, les choix ne sont en general pas aussi absolus que ceux predits par la theorie, En conditions naturelles, les animaux repondent non seulement a la ressource alimentaire, mais aussi a differentes contraintes externes (environnement non alimentaire) et internes (memoire, discrimination, etc.). D'autres approches complementaires, telles 1'« hedonisme » et la « sagesse nutritionnelle », susceptibles d'influencer les choix des animaux, sont aussi brievement analysees.

[1]  A. Sih.  Optimal Foraging: Partial Consumption of Prey , 1980, The American Naturalist.

[2]  S. L. Lima,et al.  Downy Woodpecker Foraging Behavior: Efficient Sampling in Simple Stochastic Environments , 1984 .

[3]  E. Charnov.  Optimal foraging, the marginal value theorem. , 1976, Theoretical population biology.

[4]  David Saltz,et al.  Forging at Different Spatial Scales: Dorcas Gazelles Foraging for Lilies in the Negev Desert , 1994 .

[5]  R. Cowie.  Optimal foraging in great tits (Parus major) , 1977, Nature.

[6]  I. Gordon,et al.  Incisor arcade structure and diet selection in ruminants , 1988 .

[7]  J. Newman,et al.  Use of cues by grazing animals to locate food patches: an example with sheep , 1997 .

[8]  E. Laca,et al.  Mechanisms that result in large herbivore grazing distribution patterns. , 1996 .

[9]  A. Zemel,et al.  Inter-group competition and stable group sizes , 1995, Animal Behaviour.

[10]  R. H. Armstrong,et al.  COMPARATIVE STUDIES OF THE INGESTIVE BEHAVIOUR AND HERBAGE INTAKE OF SHEEP AND CATTLE GRAZING INDIGENOUS HILL PLANT COMMUNITIES , 1991 .

[11]  L. R. Rittenhouse,et al.  Factors influencing the selection of resting sites by cattle on shortgrass steppe. , 1985 .

[12]  B. Saether,et al.  INTERACTIONS BETWEEN A GENERALIST HERBIVORE, THE MOOSE ALCES ALCES, AND ITS FOOD RESOURCES: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF WINTER FORAGING BEHAVIOUR IN RELATION TO BROWSE AVAILABILITY , 1987 .

[13]  M. Petit,et al.  Development of a methodology for studying feeding station behaviour of grazing ewes , 1998 .

[14]  M. Westoby.  What are the Biological Bases of Varied Diets? , 1978, The American Naturalist.

[15]  Manfred Milinski,et al.  Information overload and food selection , 1990 .

[16]  M. Petit,et al.  Feeding station behaviour of ewes in response to forage availability and sward phenological stage , 1998 .

[17]  Monica G. Turner,et al.  A landscape simulation model of winter foraging by large ungulates , 1993 .

[18]  J. Roese,et al.  Habitat heterogeneity and foraging efficiency: an individual-based model , 1991 .

[19]  G. Pyke.  Optimal foraging in hummingbirds : testing the marginal value theorem , 1978 .

[20]  A. R. Lewis.  Patch by Gray Squirrels and Optimal Foraging , 1980 .

[21]  Burt P. Kotler,et al.  Applying patch use to assess aspects of foraging behavior in Nubian ibex , 1994 .

[22]  Bernard Dacorogna,et al.  Optimal Foraging on Arbitrary Food Distributions and the Definition of Habitat Patches , 1988, The American Naturalist.

[23]  E. Ranta,et al.  Within-bout dynamics of diet choice , 1996 .

[24]  T. Grandin.  The reluctance of cattle to change a learned choice may confound preference tests , 1994 .

[25]  P. Kenney,et al.  Factors affecting diet selection by sheep. 2. Height and density of pasture , 1984 .

[26]  R. Gray,et al.  Can ecological theory predict the distribution of foraging animals? A critical analysis of experiments on the ideal free distribution , 1993 .

[27]  J. Newman,et al.  Effects of the Scale and Spatial Distribution of the Food Resource and Animal State on Diet Selection: An Example with Sheep , 1994 .

[28]  F. Provenza,et al.  Applicability of Five Diet-Selection Models to Various Foraging Challenges Ruminants Encounter , 1990 .

[29]  P. O’Reagain,et al.  The effect of plant structure on the acceptability of different grass species to cattle , 1989 .

[30]  N. Owen‐Smith,et al.  What Should a Clever Ungulate Eat? , 1982, The American Naturalist.

[31]  Anthony J. Parsons,et al.  The use of spatial memory by grazing animals to locate food patches in spatially heterogeneous environments: an example with sheep , 1996 .

[32]  Larry L. Irwin,et al.  Winter Habitat Relationships of Pronghorns in Southcentral Wyoming , 1987 .

[33]  R. Arditi,et al.  Optimal foraging in nonpatchy habitats. I. Bounded one-dimensional resource. , 1985 .

[34]  Jean-Baptiste Coulon,et al.  Walking and dairy cattle performance , 1994 .

[35]  C. Clark,et al.  Towards a Unifield Foraging Theory , 1986 .

[36]  B. Dumont,et al.  Choice of sheep and cattle between vegetative and reproductive cocksfoot patches , 1995 .

[37]  J. Villalba,et al.  Effects of early experience on voluntary intake of low-quality roughage by sheep. , 1994, Journal of animal science.

[38]  J. Newman,et al.  A Mechanistic Model of Some Physical Determinants of Intake Rate and Diet Selection in a Two-Species Temperate Grassland Sward , 1994 .

[39]  I. Gordon,et al.  The influence of vegetation pattern on the grazing of heather moorland by red deer and sheep. I: The location of animals on grass/heather mosaics , 1995 .

[40]  J. Goddard.  Food preferences of two black rhinoceros populations. , 1968 .

[41]  Alan B. Bond,et al.  Optimal foraging in a uniform habitat: The search mechanism of the green lacewing , 1980, Animal Behaviour.

[42]  B. Dumont,et al.  How readily will sheep walk for a preferred forage? , 1998, Journal of animal science.

[43]  P. Edwards,et al.  Use of Habitat by Free-Ranging Cattle and Ponies in the New Forest, Southern England , 1986 .

[44]  M. Naeth,et al.  Grass utilization and grazing distribution within intensively managed fields in central Alberta , 1995 .

[45]  J. Emlen.  The Role of Time and Energy in Food Preference , 1966, The American Naturalist.

[46]  Graham H. Pyke,et al.  Optimal Foraging: A Selective Review of Theory and Tests , 1977, The Quarterly Review of Biology.

[47]  R. J. Orr,et al.  Fasting affects intake behaviour and diet preference of grazing sheep , 1994, Animal Behaviour.

[48]  C. Maizeret.  Stratégies alimentaires des chevreuils: les fondements écologiques d'une diversification du régime , 1988 .

[49]  I. Gordon,et al.  The allometry of food intake in grazing ruminants , 1987 .

[50]  L. Dill,et al.  Is satisficing an alternative to optimal foraging theory , 1993 .

[51]  Alasdair I. Houston,et al.  The Effect of a Change in Foraging Options on Intake Rate and Predation Rate , 1994, The American Naturalist.

[52]  F. Provenza,et al.  Diet learning by domestic ruminants: Theory, evidence and practical implications , 1987 .

[53]  William E. Grant,et al.  AI modelling of animal movements in a heterogeneous habitat , 1989 .

[54]  F. Bunnell,et al.  Effects of learning on food selection and searching behaviour of deer , 1989 .

[55]  Association of relative food availabilities and locations by cattle. , 1989 .

[56]  Burt P. Kotler,et al.  Titrating food and safety in a heterogeneous environment: when are the risky and safe patches of equal value? , 1995 .

[57]  J. Wilmshurst,et al.  Forage quality and patch choice by wapiti (Cervus elaphus) , 1995 .

[58]  J. Newman.  Patch Use under Predation Hazard: Foraging behavior in a Simple Stochastic Environment , 1991 .

[59]  M. Westoby.  An Analysis of Diet Selection by Large Generalist Herbivores , 1974, The American Naturalist.

[60]  C. Scott,et al.  Dietary Habits and Social Interactions Affect Choice of Feeding Location by Sheep , 1995 .

[61]  G. Pyke.  Optimal Travel Speeds of Animals , 1981, The American Naturalist.

[62]  S. Lea.  Foraging and reinforcement schedules in the pigeon: Optimal and non-optimal aspects of choice , 1979, Animal Behaviour.

[63]  John A. Wiens,et al.  POPULATION RESPONSES TO *:4102 PATCHY ENVIRONMENTS , 1976 .

[64]  N. T. Hobbs,et al.  Mechanisms of Foraging in Mammalian Herbivores: New Models of Functional Response , 1992, The American Naturalist.

[65]  Stefano Focardi,et al.  Do ungulates exhibit a food density threshold? A field study of optimal foraging and movement patterns , 1996 .

[66]  M. Petit,et al.  How degree of selectivity modifies foraging behaviour of dry ewes on reproductive compared to vegetative sward structure , 1998 .

[67]  D. J. Anderson,et al.  Optimal foraging and the traveling salesman , 1983 .

[68]  V. M. Thomas,et al.  Effect of previous experience on sheep grazing leafy spurge , 1996 .

[69]  R. W. Richards,et al.  Foraging strategies of cattle in a Y-maze: influence of food availability , 1995 .

[70]  Lawrence M. Dill,et al.  MORTALITY RISK VS. FOOD QUALITY TRADE-OFFS IN A COMMON CURRENCY: ANT PATCH PREFERENCES' , 1990 .

[71]  J. W. Waggoner,et al.  Grazing systems, pasture size, and cattle grazing behavior, distribution and gains. , 1993 .

[72]  S. V. Wieren,et al.  Do large herbivores select a diet that maximizes short-term energy intake rate? , 1996 .

[73]  G. Pyke.  Optimal foraging in hummingbirds: Rule of movement between inflorescences , 1981, Animal Behaviour.

[74]  Clayton M. Hodges.  Optimal foraging in bumblebees: Hunting by expectation , 1981, Animal Behaviour.

[75]  B. Dumont.  Diet preferences of herbivores at pasture , 1997 .

[76]  T. Tennessen,et al.  Effect of previous grazing experience on the grazing behaviour of lambs , 1992 .

[77]  P. Lundberg,et al.  Partial prey consumption by browsers: trees as patches , 1990 .

[78]  R. W. Richards,et al.  Characteristics of spatial memory in cattle , 1989 .

[79]  B. Galef,et al.  Social Influences on Feeding Site Selection by Burmese Fowl (Gallus gallus) , 1992 .

[80]  T. Valone.  Group foraging, public information, and patch estimation , 1989 .

[81]  N. B. Kotliar,et al.  Multiple scales of patchiness and patch structure: a hierarchical framework for the study of heterogeneity , 1990 .

[82]  I. Gordon,et al.  The nutritional ecology of African ruminants: A reinterpretation , 1996 .

[83]  C. Scott,et al.  Observations of sheep foraging in familiar and unfamiliar environments: familiarity with the environment influences diet selection , 1996 .

[84]  Alasdair I. Houston,et al.  The ideal free distribution when competitive abilities differ: an approach based on statistical mechanics , 1988, Animal Behaviour.

[85]  J. Newman,et al.  A note on the behavioural strategies used by grazing animals to alter their intake rates , 1994 .

[86]  E. Laca,et al.  Patch selection by cattle: maximization of intake rate in horizontally heterogeneous pastures , 1995 .

[87]  R. Underwood.  The Feeding Behaviour of Grazing African Ungulates , 1983 .

[88]  E. Laca,et al.  Effects of Canopy Structure on Patch Depression by Grazers , 1994 .

[89]  Derek W. Bailey,et al.  Large Herbivore Foraging and Ecological HierarchiesLandscape ecology can enhance traditional foraging theory , 1987 .

[90]  R. Macarthur,et al.  On Optimal Use of a Patchy Environment , 1966, The American Naturalist.

[91]  G. Pyke.  Optimal foraging in bumblebees: Rule of movement between flowers within inflorescences , 1979, Animal Behaviour.

[92]  S. Fretwell,et al.  On territorial behavior and other factors influencing habitat distribution in birds , 1969 .

[93]  D. Bazely.  Foraging behaviour of sheep (Ovis aries L.) grazing on swards of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) , 1988 .

[94]  P. Jarman,et al.  The Social Organisation of Antelope in Relation To Their Ecology , 1974 .

[95]  J. Hodgson,et al.  Variations in herbage mass and digestibility, and the grazing behaviour and herbage intake of adult cattle and weaned calves , 1981 .

[96]  James N. McNair,et al.  A Class of Patch-Use Strategies , 1983 .

[97]  J. Williamson,et al.  Wildebeest migration in the Kalahari , 1988 .

[98]  J. Newman,et al.  Optimal diet selection by a generalist grazing herbivore , 1995 .

[99]  James N. M. Smith,et al.  FOOD-SEARCHING BEHAVIOR OF TITMICE IN PATCHY ENVIRONMENTS' , 1974 .

[100]  Stephen P. Ellner,et al.  Information Processing and Prey Detection , 1993 .

[101]  F. Provenza.  Postingestive Feedback as an Elementary Determinant of Food Preference and Intake in Ruminants , 1995 .

[102]  S. Biquand,et al.  The influence of peers, lineage and environment on food selection of the criollo goat , 1992 .

[103]  G. Pyke.  Optimal Foraging Theory: A Critical Review , 1984 .

[104]  J. Hodgson,et al.  Discrimination and patch choice by sheep grazing grass-clover swards , 1992 .

[105]  L A Real,et al.  Animal choice behavior and the evolution of cognitive architecture , 1991, Science.

[106]  D. Dwyer,et al.  Feeding Stations of Sheep as an Indicator of Diminished Forage Supply , 1985 .

[107]  H. Fritz,et al.  Foraging in a social antelope: effects of group size on foraging choices and resource perception in impala , 1996 .

[108]  William E. Grant,et al.  AN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MODELLING APPROACH TO SIMULATING ANIMAL/HABITAT INTERACTIONS , 1988 .

[109]  C. Thouless.  Feeding competition between grazing red deer hinds , 1990, Animal Behaviour.

[110]  J. Berger,et al.  Pregnancy incentives, predation constraints and habitat shifts: experimental and field evidence for wild bighorn sheep , 1991, Animal Behaviour.

[111]  Martin Vavra,et al.  Slope Use by Cattle, Feral Horses, Deer, and Bighorn Sheep , 1987 .

[112]  G. Greenwood,et al.  Forage ingestion: effects of sward characteristics and body size. , 1988, Journal of animal science.

[113]  G. Greenwood,et al.  The effect of fasting on short‐term cattle grazing behaviour , 1988 .

[114]  A. Turner,et al.  Central place foraging by swallows (Hirundinidae): The question of load size , 1982, Animal Behaviour.

[115]  P. White,et al.  The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and Patch Dynamics , 1986 .

[116]  B. Dumont,et al.  An indoor method for studying the preferences of sheep and cattle at pasture , 1995 .

[117]  A. Johnsingh,et al.  On habitat selection by the goral Nemorhaedus goral bedfordi (Bovidae, Artiodactyla) , 1996 .

[118]  A. Dixon,et al.  HABITAT QUALITY AND THE FORAGING BEHAVIOUR OF COCCINELLID LARVAE , 1982 .