• Shively, Lisa
  University of Maine Graduate School
  

I examined the individual and combined effects of bite size, plant fibrousness, plant density, and body size on dry matter (DM) intake rate of tame moose (Alces alces), white-tailed deer (odocoileus vriginianus), caribou (Rangifer tarandus), and snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus). Animals were offered natural foods varying in fibrousness and bite size in artificial "pastures" to test these relationships. Intake rate of the 4 herbivores increased 2-10 fold due to the bite size along. Results were consistent with the hypothesis  that biting indirectly influences intake rate by interrupting food processing (chewing and swallowing). Intake rate was greater on maple leaves (37% Neutral Detergent Fiber, NDF) than on dormant maple stems (64%) for moose and deer, but was similar for hares. The theoretical maximum intake rate (Rmax) scaled to body weight 0.66 of 9 herbivores, which was not significantly different than that predicted from the allometric relationship between occlusal surface area of the molars and body weight. This further emphasizes the importance of food processing on the intake of large herbivores.