Abstract
The Eastern Grey Kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) occurs mostly in the wetter regions of eastern Australia. However, in the past 30–40 years it has moved into more arid regions (rainfall<250 mm), thus increasing its overlap zone with the xeric adapted Red Kangaroo (Macropus rufus). An increased access to water (supplied for domestic stock) may explain this range extension, but changes in the availability of preferred feed could also be involved. The water use, drinking patterns and thermoregulatory behaviour of these two species of kangaroo have been examined in a semi-free range study, during summer at an arid rangeland site. Foraging was largely nocturnal in both species and during the day they behaved to reduce heat loads. This was especially so for M. giganteus, which showed greater shade seeking. However, it still used more water (72±2.6 mL kg−1 day−1, mean ± SE) than M. rufus (56±7.6 mL kg−1 day−1) and drank twice as frequently. Although M. giganteus produced a less concentrated urine (1422±36 mosmol kg−1) than M. rufus (1843±28 mosmol kg−1), kidney physiology did not explain all of the differences in water metabolism between the species. Water from the feed and faecal water retention also appear to be involved. Broadly, a better access to reliable water and the utilisation of mesic microhabitats has enabled M. giganteus to make inroads into the changing rangelands of eastern Australia. However, changes in the vegetation, due to stock grazing, have also favoured M. giganteus, which is a grass eating specialist.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Blaney CE, Dawson TJ, McCarron HCK, Buffenstein R, Krockenberger AK (2000) Water metabolism and renal function and structure in eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus): responses to water deprivation. Aust J Zool 48:335–345
Beuchat CA (1990) Metabolism and scaling of urine concentrating ability in mammals: resolution of a paradox? J Theor Biol 143:113–122
Brownfield MS, Wunder BA (1976) Relative medullary area: a new structural index for estimating urinary concentrating capacity of mammals. Comp Biochem Physiol 55A:69–75
Caughley G (1964) Social organisation and daily activity of the red kangaroo and the grey kangaroo. J Mammal 45:429–436
Caughley G, Brown B, Dostine P, Grice D (1984) The grey kangaroo overlap zone. Aust Wildl Res 11:1–10
Caughley G, Grice D, Barker R, Brown B (1988) The edge of the range. J Appl Ecol 57:771–785
Caughley G, Grigg GC, Smith L (1985) The effect of drought on kangaroo populations. J Wildl Manage 49:679–685
Caughley G, Short J, Grigg GC, Nix H (1987) Kangaroos and climate: and analysis of distribution. J Appl Ecol 56:751–761
Cunningham GM, Mulham WE, Milthorpe PL, Leigh JH (1981) Introduction. In: Plants of western New South Wales. Soil Conservation Service of New South Wales, Sydney, pp 9–26
Dawson TJ (1995) Kangaroos: biology of the largest marsupials. University of New South Wales Press, Sydney
Dawson TJ, Blaney CE, Munn AJ, Krockenberger A, Maloney SK (2000a) Thermoregulation by kangaroos from mesic and arid habitats: influence of temperature on routes of heat loss in eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) and red kangaroos (Macropus rufus). Physiol Biochem Zool 73:374–381
Dawson TJ, Denny MJS (1969) A bioclimatical comparison of the summer day microenvironments of two species of arid-zone kangaroo. Ecology 50:328–332
Dawson TJ, Denny MJS, Russell EM, Ellis BA (1975) Water use and diet preferences of free ranging kangaroos, sheep and feral goats in the Australian arid zone during summer. J Zool, Lond 177:1–23
Dawson TJ, McTavish KJ, Ellis BA (2004) Diets and foraging behaviour of red kangaroos and eastern grey kangaroos in the arid shrub land: is feeding behaviour involved in the range expansion of the eastern grey kangaroo in the arid zone? Aust Mammal 20:169–178
Dawson TJ, Munn AJ, Blaney CE, Krockenberger A, Maloney SK (2000b) Ventilatory accommodation of oxygen demand and respiratory water loss in kangaroos from mesic and arid environments, the eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) and the red kangaroo (M. rufus). Physiol Biochem Zool 73:382–388
Denny MJS (1975) The occurrence of the eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus Shaw) west of the Darling River. Search (Sydney) 6:89–90
Denny MJS, Dawson TJ (1975) Comparative metabolism of tritiated water by macropodid marsupials. Am J Physiol 228:1794–1799
Denny MJS, Dawson TJ (1977) Kidney structure and function of desert kangaroos. J Appl Physiol 42:636–642
Dellow DW, Hume ID (1982) Studies on the nutrition of macropodine marsupials 1. Intake and digestion of lucerne hay and fresh grass, Phalaris aquatica. Aust J Zool 30:391–398
Dunbar RIM (1976) Some aspects of research design and their implication in the observational study of behaviour. Behaviour 58:78–98
Freudenberger DO, Hume ID (1993) Effects of water restriction on digestive function in two macropodid marsupials from divergent habitats and the feral goat. J Comp Physiol B 163:247–257
Griffiths M, Barker R (1966) The plants eaten by sheep and by kangaroos grazing together in a paddock in south-western Queensland. CSIRO Wildl Res 11:145–167
Green B (1989) Water turnover in free-living macropodoids. In: Grigg G, Jarman P, Hume I (eds) Kangaroos, wallabies and rat kangaroos. Surrey Beatty and Sons, Chipping Norton, pp 223–229
Greenwald L (1989) The significance of renal relative medullary thickness. Physiol Zool 62:1005–1014
Heisinger JF, Breitenbach RP (1969) Renal structural characteristics as indexes of renal adaptation in the genus Sylvilagus. Physiol Zool 42:160–172
Hume ID (1974) Nitrogen and sulphur retention and fibre digestion by euros, red kangaroos and sheep. Aust J Zool 22:13–23
Hume ID (1999) Marsupial nutrition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
James CD, Landsberg J, Morton SR (1999) Provision of watering points in the Australian arid zone: a review of effects on biota. J Arid Environ 44:87–121
Krebs CJ (2002) Beyond population regulation and limitation. Wildl Res 29:1–10
Leigh JH, Mulham WE (1971) The effect of defoliation on the persistence of Atriplex vesicaria. Aust J Agric Res 22:239–244
McCarron HCK (1990) Environmental physiology of the eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus Shaw). PhD Thesis, University of New South Wales, Sydney
McCarron HCK, Buffenstein R, Fanning FD, Dawson TJ (2001) Free-ranging heart rate, body temperature and energy metabolism in eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) and red kangaroos (Macropus rufus) in the arid regions of south east Australia. J Comp Physiol B 171:401–411
McCullough DR, McCullough Y (2000) Kangaroos in outback Australia: comparative ecology and behaviour of three coexisting species. Columbia University Press, New York
Moss GL, Croft DB (1999) Body condition of the red kangaroo (Macropus rufus) in arid Australia: the effect of environmental condition, sex and reproduction. Aust J Ecol 24:97–109
Nagy KA, Bradshaw SD (2000) Scaling of energy and water fluxes in free-living arid-zone Australian marsupials. J Mammal 81:962–970
Nagy KA, Costa DP (1980) Water flux in animals: analysis of potential errors in the tritiated water method. Am J Physiol 238:R454–R465
Nagy KA, Sanson GD, Jacobsen NK (1990) Comparative field energetics of two macropod marsupials and a ruminant. Aust Wildl Res 17:591–599
Newsome AE (1971) The ecology of red kangaroos. Aust Zool 16:32–50
Osawa R, Woodall PF (1992) A comparative study of the macroscopic and microscopic dimensions of the intestine in five macropods (Marsupialia: Macropodidae). II. Relationship with feeding habits and fibre content of the diet. Aust J Zool 40:99–113
Russell EM, Harrop CJF (1976) The behaviour of red kangaroos (Megaleia rufa) on hot summer days. Z Tierpsychol 40:396–426
Sperber I (1944) Studies on the mammalian kidney. Zool Bidrag Fran Ups 22:249–432
Vaughan BE, Boling EA (1961) Rapid assay procedures for tritium-labelled water in body fluids. J Lab Clin Med 57:159–164
Acknowledgements
We thank the staff at the University of New South Wales Arid Zone Research Station, Fowlers Gap for their assistance. Dr. SK Maloney gave valuable advice on the statistical analysis. The kangaroos were kept under the provisions of a scientific fauna licence granted by the New South Wales, National Parks and Wildlife Service. Approval for the study (ACE 99/23) was given by the University of New South Wales Animal Care and Ethics Committee. This study was funded by Australian Research Council grants to TJD.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by G. Heldmaier
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dawson, T.J., McTavish, K.J., Munn, A.J. et al. Water use and the thermoregulatory behaviour of kangaroos in arid regions: insights into the colonisation of arid rangelands in Australia by the Eastern Grey Kangaroo (Macropus giganteus). J Comp Physiol B 176, 45–53 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-005-0030-2
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-005-0030-2