Journal
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
Volume 61, Issue -, Pages 658-666Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2015.10.017
Keywords
Faecal nitrogen; Faecal cuticle microhistological analysis; Fibre contents; NDVI; Remote sensing; Herbivore nutrition; Rupicapra pyrenaica pyrenaica; Alpine grassland
Categories
Funding
- Erasmus Mundus programme from the European Commission
- Fundacao para a Ciencia ea Tecnologia, Portugal [SFRH/BPD/96637/2013]
- Excellence Programme of Junta de Andalucia [RNM-6685]
- Spanish MICINN [CGL2009-11631]
- National Foundation for Science and Technology [CESAM: UID/AMB/50017/2013]
- ONCFS
- SEFaS
Ask authors/readers for more resources
In recent years, the use of satellite-derived vegetation indices has become a powerful tool to collect information on vegetation dynamics in a broad range of ecosystems worldwide. However, the utility of these indices as indicators of the diet composition and quality of herbivore mammals has not yet been established. This work focuses on exploring such relationships analysing four years of records of monthly Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI, a MOD13 satellite-derived index) and diet composition and quality of two populations of chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica pyrenaica) in the Eastern Pyrenees (Spain). Our results revealed that 68.4% and 53.3% of diet composition and quality of chamois can be explained by EVI values in the green-up season (spring) and green senescence (winter season), respectively. In both periods, EVI was related mainly to diets low in fibre (cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin) and heather (Calluna vulgaris) and high in nitrogen due to the consumption of Festuca, Forbs and Trifolium. During the summer season however, the EVI was not significantly related to diet components of chamois. A significant inter-year variability in the diets of the chamois was also observed. To conclude, remote sensing is appropriate to assess temporal variations in dietary components of mountain ungulates, and could be used as a component of monitoring large herbivore populations in management programmes. (c) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available