Titrating the Cost of Plant Toxins Against Predators: a Case Study with Common Duikers, Sylvicapra grimmia.

Abstract

Foragers face many variables that influence their food intake. These may include habitat structure, time, climate, resource characteristic, food quality, and plant defenses. I conducted foraging experiments using common duikers that involved: 1) testing the effect of plant toxins on foraging, and 2) titrating toxin intake against safety. I used giving up densities (GUDs, food remaining after foraging) to test for selection among trays containing alfalfa pellets treated with water, with 10% oxalic acid, or 10% quebracho tannin. Pairs of trays were placed within islands of woody vegetation and out in open grass. I also conducted a titration experiment by offering the duikers a choice between a patch with water-treated pellets placed at a risky site, or a patch with one of three oxalic acid-treated pellets at a safe site. This made it possible to determine the concentration of oxalic acid at which the cost of toxin in the safe site equals the predation cost at the risky site. The common duikers showed no selectivity among the three treatments at 10% concentration, however, GUDs in the open grass (i.e., safe) were significantly lower than in the wooded islands (i.e., risky). As the oxalic acid concentration increased at the safe sites, the duiker's food intake from the risky sites increased significantly. The results demonstrate that foraging hazards may come in different forms such as predation and plant toxins, and their interactions may alter habitat use, foraging patterns, and perceptions of risk. These variables occur under natural situations, altering the overall habitat quality.