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Foliage Chemistry Influences Tree Choice and Landscape Use of a Gliding Marsupial Folivore

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Abstract

The chemical quality of forage may determine landscape use and habitat quality for some herbivorous species. However, studies that investigate the relationship between foliar chemistry and foraging choices in wild vertebrates are rare. Petauroides volans (the greater glider) is unique among Australian marsupial folivores because it glides. It also frequently consumes foliage from both major Eucalyptus subgenera, Eucalyptus (common name “monocalypt”) and Symphyomyrtus (common name “symphyomyrtle”), which differ markedly in their foliar chemistry. Such differences are thought to be a product of co-evolution that also led to guild-specific plant secondary metabolite (PSM) specialization among other marsupial eucalypt folivores. To explore whether foliar chemistry influences tree use, we analyzed foliage from eucalypt trees in which we observed P. volans during a radio tracking study and from eucalypt trees in which animals were never observed. We used a combination of chemical assays and near infrared spectrophotometry (NIRS) to determine concentrations of nitrogen (N), in vitro available nitrogen (AvailN), and in vitro digestible dry matter (DDM) from foliage sampled from the monocalypt and symphyomyrtle species, and total formylated phloroglucinol compounds (FPCs) and sideroxylonals (a class of FPCs) from the symphyomyrtle species (FPCs do not occur in monocalypts). Tree size and spatially-dependent, intraspecific variations in sideroxylonals and DDM concentrations in the symphyomyrtle foliage and of N, AvailN, and DDM in the monocalypt species were important indicators of tree use and habitat suitability for P. volans. The results i) demonstrate that guild-specific PSMs do not always lead to guild-specific foraging; ii) provide a compelling co-evolutionary case for the development of gliding in P. volans; and iii) have implications for the management and conservation of this and other folivorous species.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr. Karen Marsh for assistance with the field and laboratory components of this research. We also thank Nicole Coggan, Sarah Ugalde, Jeff Whiting, and Stewart Archer for help in the field. Two reviewers provided constructive comments that improved our original manuscript. This research was made possible by the support of The Hermon Slade Foundation, The Wilderness Society, Ecological Society of Australia, The Fenner School of Environment and Society and Botany and Zoology in the Research School of Biology at Australian National University. This research was conducted with the permission of State Forests New South Wales (permit CO32438) and National Parks (permit S12036). This project was approved by the Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee at Australian National University (project number C.RE.47.06).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia

    Kara N. Youngentob, David B. Lindenmayer, Jeff T. Wood & Matthew L. Pope

  2. Botany and Zoology, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia

    Ian R. Wallis & William J. Foley

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  1. Kara N. Youngentob
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  2. Ian R. Wallis
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Correspondence to Kara N. Youngentob.

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Youngentob, K.N., Wallis, I.R., Lindenmayer, D.B. et al. Foliage Chemistry Influences Tree Choice and Landscape Use of a Gliding Marsupial Folivore. J Chem Ecol 37, 71–84 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-010-9889-9

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