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Sideroxylonal in Eucalyptus foliage influences foraging behaviour of an arboreal folivore

  • Plant-Animal Interactions
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Abstract

Plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) offer plants chemical defences against herbivores, and are known to influence intake and diet choice in both insect and mammalian herbivores. However, there is limited knowledge regarding how PSMs influence herbivore foraging decisions. Herbivore foraging decisions, in turn, directly impact on which individual plants, and plant species, are selected for consumption. We took advantage of the natural variation in sideroxylonal concentrations in the foliage of Eucalyptus melliodora (Cunn. ex Schauer) to investigate feeding patterns of a marsupial folivore, the common ringtail possum, Pseudocheirus peregrinus (Boddaert 1785). Foliage, collected from six trees, contained between 0.32 and 12.97 mg g-DM-1 sideroxylonal. With increasing sideroxylonal concentrations, possums decreased their total intake, rate of intake and intake per feeding bout, and increased their cumulative time spent feeding. Possums did not alter their total feeding time, number of feeding bouts or time per feeding bout in response to increasing sideroxylonal concentrations. Results demonstrate important behavioural changes in foraging patterns in response to sideroxylonal. These behavioural changes have important implications, in relation to altered foraging efficiency and potential predation risk, for herbivores foraging in the field. As a result, the spatial distribution of dietary PSMs across a landscape may directly influence herbivore fitness, and ultimately habitat selection of mammalian herbivores.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Rose Andrews for help with foliage collection. Research was approved by University of Tasmania and Australian National University Animal Ethics Committees (Ethics Permit Numbers A6700 and F.BTZ.44.02). Research was funded by an Australian Postgraduate Award and the CRC for Sustainable Production Forestry.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CRC for Sustainable Production Forestry, Schools of Zoology, Pharmacy and Plant Science, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 5, 7001, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

    Natasha L. Wiggins

  2. Division of Botany and Zoology, Australian National University, 0200, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    Karen J. Marsh, Ian R. Wallis & William J. Foley

  3. School of Biological Science, University of Sydney, Heydon-Laurence Building, 2006, Sydney, Australia

    Clare McArthur

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  1. Natasha L. Wiggins
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  2. Karen J. Marsh
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  3. Ian R. Wallis
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  4. William J. Foley
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  5. Clare McArthur
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Correspondence to Natasha L. Wiggins.

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Communicated by Roland Brandl

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Wiggins, N.L., Marsh, K.J., Wallis, I.R. et al. Sideroxylonal in Eucalyptus foliage influences foraging behaviour of an arboreal folivore. Oecologia 147, 272–279 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-005-0268-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-005-0268-0

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