Meeting Abstract

100.7  Wednesday, Jan. 7  Temporal effects on bamboo nutritional quality for specialist foragers. PARSONS, J.L.*; BALDWIN, B.S.; OUELLETTE, J.R.; KOUBA, A.; RUDE, B.J.; Mississippi State Univ.; Mississippi State Univ.; Memphis Zoo; Memphis Zoo; Mississippi State Univ. jlp418@msstate.edu

Clonal plants such as bamboo show temporal oscillations in aboveground resources, as reserves flux among leaf, stem, and belowground compartments together with significant life-cycle events. Knowledge of changes in forage quality is central to an understanding of the physiology and behavior of animals consuming bamboo-only diets, most of which are highly endangered. Preliminary data from a 3-year study of Phyllostachys bamboos were analyzed for effects of disturbance intensity, season, and age class on proximate nutrient composition, with the goal of identifying potential influences on forage palatability for herbivores. Bamboo leaf composition ranged from 8 to 25% protein, 5 to 22% ash, 60 to 80% neutral-detergent fiber (NDF), 25 to 40% acid-detergent fiber (ADF), and 4 to 14.5% lipid. Culm (central woody stem) was 0.5 to 4.5% protein, 1 to 4% ash, 85 to 95% NDF, 55 to 75% ADF, and 2 to 7.5% lipid. Shoots were 7.5 to 35% protein, 3.5 to 10% ash, 40 to 85% NDF, 15 to 70% ADF, and 7 to 16% lipid. We have not detected disturbance effects thus far, but we did find temporal effects on nutritional quality. Bamboo contained more ash and less NDF as it matured within a single year (P < 0.001); less ADF and more protein, NDF, and lipid as it aged from year to year (P < 0.03); and more ash and less fiber in spring (Feb-May), than in summer (Jun-Sept) or winter (Oct-Jan; P < 0.01). These changes may explain diet selection patterns among giant pandas and possibly other bamboo specialists. However, an understanding of micronutrient and allelochemical alterations is also necessary to fully comprehend the influence of this dietary source on specialist consumers, particularly with regard to non-structural carbohydrates, biogenic silica, tannins, or cyanogens.