Digestive Efficiencies in Herbivorous and Omnivorous Freshwater Turtles on Plant Diets: Do Herbivores Have a Nutritional Advantage?

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Abstract
Digestive performances of two freshwater turtles-a herbivore and an omnivore-were compared on two diets of aquatic plants to test the prediction that the digestive efficiency (nutrient or energy gain per unit time) of herbivores is greater than that of omnivores on plant diets. On a diet of hydrilla, Hydrilla verticillata, the herbivore gained significantly more nutrition from the diet on a daily basis, as a result of higher intake and more rapid digestive processing. When fed duckweed, Spirodela polyrhiza, the two turtle species had equivalent digestive performances. Thus, the herbivore did not consistently outperform the omnivore. The herbivore had greater digestive efficiency on a diet that was extensively fermented (hydrilla), but, on a diet that underwent limited microbial degradation (duckweed), the herbivore had no nutritional advantage over the omnivore.

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