Intrinsic and environmental drivers on diet quality of wild guanacos (Lama guanicoe).

GREGORIO PABLO; PANEBIANCO ANTONELLA; MAROZZI ANTONELA; PEÑA FIAMA; OVEJERO AGUILAR RAMIRO; LEGGIERI LEONARDO RAMÓN; CARMANCHAHI PABLO

Phoenix, Arizona

Congreso; 100th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Mammalogist; 2021

American Society of Mammalogists

In arid ecosystems, adaptations are key to obtain nutrients. Understanding the diet quality of wild ungulates can provide eco-physiological clues about the strategies to survive in these environments. The guanaco is the largest native ungulate in arid environments of Argentina, depicting an interesting model for the comprehension of herbivore adaptations to low-resource scenarios.We aimed to: 1) evaluate the influence of sex and social grouping ondiet quality, and2)understand how the diet quality varies according to environmental conditions: primary productivity, seasonality and vegetation type (grasslands,shrublands) in wild guanacos at two Protected Areas from Northern Patagonia: La Payunia (LP, a migratory population), and Auca Mahuida (AM, a sedentary population). We collected fresh fecal samples (n=220)and quantified nitrogen content as a proxy of diet quality.Linear models with a beta error distribution were adjusted and selected following AIC weighting. Diet quality was influenced by social grouping, season, and primary productivity. In LP, nitrogen content was higher in mixed and familygroups, and in AM, it was higher in mixed and solitary units.At both populations, nitrogen content was higher in summer, which was associated with high primary productivity. Additionally, in AM, nitrogen content was higher in shrublands. These results complement previous studies on the nutritional ecology of the guanaco and contribute to the understanding of the adaptations of wild ungulates to arid environments.