The effect of digestibility values of resources on the reliability of food-habit studies from fecal analyses

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The digestibility of 10 plant species was computed using the amount of food ingested and egested in laboratory experiments with meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus). The plant species chosen for analysis can be found in old-field habitats and have low digestibility values. Digestibility coefficients of monocots and dicots did not differ. Digestibility values varied from 19% for Agropyron repens to 68% for Leontodon autumnalis and were not related to identifiable microscopic epidermal fragments in feces. The water content of plants influenced food ingestion, since the highest ingestion rates coincided with plants having the lowest water content. Observed differences in the number of identifiable microscopic epidermal fragments in feces among species were due to other factors than the differential digestibility.