Abstract
We apply a recently established nutritional framework for defining dietary generalism to global populations of wild boar (Sus scrofa). Across its range, wild boar consume a diversity of foods that vary in nutritional composition. The macronutrient (carbohydrate, protein and fat) composition of the diets composed from those foods also varies substantially between countries, particularly in terms of proportion of energy from protein. These results suggest that as a species wild boar have a wide fundamental macronutrient niche, which likely contributes to the success of the species as an invader of novel environments.
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Senior, A.M., Grueber, C.E., Machovsky-Capuska, G. et al. Macronutritional consequences of food generalism in an invasive mammal, the wild boar. Mamm Biol 81, 523–526 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mambio.2016.07.001
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mambio.2016.07.001