The Effects of Consumption Rate and Temperature on Apparent Digestibility Coefficient, Urate Production, Metabolizable Energy Coefficient and Passage Time in Canyon Lizards (Sceloporus merriami) From Two Populations
Beaupre SJ, Dunham AE, Overall KL. 1993. The Effects of Consumption Rate and Temperature on Apparent Digestibility Coefficient, Urate Production, Metabolizable Energy Coefficient and Passage Time in Canyon Lizards (Sceloporus merriami) From Two Populations. Functional Ecology. 7(3):273-280
Effects of temperature, population of origin, lizard mass and consumption on apparent digestibility coefficient (ADC), urate production, metabolizable energy coefficient (MEC), and passage time was studied and quantified. Two populations of canyon lizards were used to study this (Boquillas and Grapevine Hills). ADC was not sensitive to temperature and was only significantly affected by consumption rate. Urate production was affected by consumption rate, lizard mass and temperature. MEC was affected by consumption rate, temperature and population of origin. The average field active body temperature of the lizards, 34 degrees C, was the temperature at which highest rates of energy extraction was achieved. This study supports the shifting of focus from ADC to MEC for studies that deal with environmental effects on energy extraction rate. Integrated study of the complete digestive process is also recommended. Figure 1: ADC and MEC as a function of energy consumed. Figure 2: Urate production as a function of energy consumed. Figure 5: Energy consumed on a free-feeding basis as a function of temperature. Table 1: Results of regression analyses of the effects of consumption rate, lizard mass, and temperature on daily urate production. Table 2: Results of regression analysis of the effects of consumption rate, temperature, and population of origin on MEC.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Beaupre, Steven; Dunham, Arthur; Overall, Karen
- Units
- BIBE
- Keywords
- Animal Studies, Body Temperature, canyon lizard (Sceloporus merriami) - Squamata - Sauria - Iguanidae, Digestion, Feeding, Metabolism, Urine