SEASONAL VARIATION OF NUTRITIONAL HORMONES IN CAPTIVE FEMALE MOOSE

The health status of animals may be inferred from the patterns of hormonal concentrations and other chemical characteristics in blood samples. Baseline endocrine data representing the nutritional and reproductive condition of moose are currently unknown. In this study, we examined the seasonal patterns of 3 nutritional hormones (leptin, ghrelin, insulin-like growth factor-1) in 3 captive, non-pregnant female moose (Alces alces) fed a maintenance diet from November to August. Plasma concentrations for leptin, ghrelin, and IGF-1 averaged 1.36 ± 0.81 ng/mL, 0.229 ± 0.110 ng/mL, and 114.0 ± 30.5 ng/mL, respectively; only ghrelin displayed a seasonal change. Plasma ghrelin concentration was significantly elevated (P < 0.001) during winter months suggesting it may be sensitive to seasonal changes and indicative of nutritional status

Landscape Ecology vol. 10 no. 4 pp 209-217 (1995) SPB Academic Publishing bv, Amsterdam

for short detection distances. Ob- served move distances were most closely approximated by simulations based on a nearest-neighbor rule - over 75% of all moves by bighorn sheepwere tothe closest available plant. Movement rules based onrandom walks are clearly inappropriate for many herbivores that typically consume visually apparent plants, and we suggest the use of a nearest-neighbor rule for modelling foraging by large herbivores. 1. Introduction Foraging by large herbivores influences the struc- ture and function of ecosystems by altering the dy- namics of plant communities (Ellison 1960, Griffiths 1979, Mack and Thompson 1982, man and 1984, Milchunas and roth 1993, Dodd by modifying the distribu- tion and turnover of nutrients (Hobbs and Schimel 1984, Schimel et al. 1986, Jaramillo and Detling 1988, McNaughton et 1988, Pastor et al. 1988, Ruess and McNaughton 1988, Hobbs et al. 1991, Pastor and by affecting distur- bance regimes, particularly the frequency and in- tensit

SEASONAL VARIATION OF NUTRITIONAL HORMONES IN CAPTIVE FEMALE MOOSE

The health status of animals may be inferred from the patterns of hormonal concentrations and other chemical characteristics in blood samples. Baseline endocrine data representing the nutritional and reproductive condition of moose are currently unknown. In this study, we examined the seasonal patterns of 3 nutritional hormones (leptin, ghrelin, insulin-like growth factor-1) in 3 captive, non-pregnant female moose (Alces alces) fed a maintenance diet from November to August. Plasma concentrations for leptin, ghrelin, and IGF-1 averaged 1.36 ± 0.81 ng/mL, 0.229 ± 0.110 ng/mL, and 114.0 ± 30.5 ng/mL, respectively; only ghrelin displayed a seasonal change. Plasma ghrelin concentration was significantly elevated (P < 0.001) during winter months suggesting it may be sensitive to seasonal changes and indicative of nutritional status

Appendix C. Nitrogen concentration of browses of Denali and Nelchina study areas for 2001, 2003, and 2004.

Nitrogen concentration of browses of Denali and Nelchina study areas for 2001, 2003, and 2004

Appendix B. Protein precipitation capacity of browses of Denali and Nelchina study areas for 2001, 2003, and 2004.

Protein precipitation capacity of browses of Denali and Nelchina study areas for 2001, 2003, and 2004

Appendix A. Comparison of summer leaf nutritional characteristics between Denali National Park and the Nelchina Basin, Alaska, and between years, based on ANCOVA. This appendix also contains a table comparing the date of zero net protein intake of cow moose in three reproductive states in Denali vs. Nelchina based on a simulation model of digestible protein intake over summer.

Comparison of summer leaf nutritional characteristics between Denali National Park and the Nelchina Basin, Alaska, and between years, based on ANCOVA. This appendix also contains a table comparing the date of zero net protein intake of cow moose in three reproductive states in Denali vs. Nelchina based on a simulation model of digestible protein intake over summer

Appendix D. Digestible protein concentration of browses of Denali and Nelchina study areas for 2001, 2003, and 2004.

Digestible protein concentration of browses of Denali and Nelchina study areas for 2001, 2003, and 2004

Interspecies cross-feeding orchestrates carbon degradation in the rumen ecosystem.

Because of their agricultural value, there is a great body of research dedicated to understanding the microorganisms responsible for rumen carbon degradation. However, we lack a holistic view of the microbial food web responsible for carbon processing in this ecosystem. Here, we sampled rumen-fistulated moose, allowing access to rumen microbial communities actively degrading woody plant biomass in real time. We resolved 1,193 viral contigs and 77 unique, near-complete microbial metagenome-assembled genomes, many of which lacked previous metabolic insights. Plant-derived metabolites were measured with NMR and carbohydrate microarrays to quantify the carbon nutrient landscape. Network analyses directly linked measured metabolites to expressed proteins from these unique metagenome-assembled genomes, revealing a genome-resolved three-tiered carbohydrate-fuelled trophic system. This provided a glimpse into microbial specialization into functional guilds defined by specific metabolites. To validate our proteomic inferences, the catalytic activity of a polysaccharide utilization locus from a highly connected metabolic hub genome was confirmed using heterologous gene expression. Viral detected proteins and linkages to microbial hosts demonstrated that phage are active controllers of rumen ecosystem function. Our findings elucidate the microbial and viral members, as well as their metabolic interdependencies, that support in situ carbon degradation in the rumen ecosystem