Determinção da dieta de cinco espéciés de herbívoros da reservà especial de maputo pelo método de análise fecal

Abstract

A dietary study of five species of herbivores, using the fecal analysis method, was carried out at the Maputo Special Reserve in 1996 during the dry season. The study was intended to complement the study carried out during the rainy season. The species chosen for the study were: elephant [Loxodonta africana, Blumenbach). chango (Redunca arundinum, Boddaert), red goat (Cephalophus natafensis, Smith), gray goat (Sylvicapra grimmia, Linnaeus) and chengane goat (Neotragus moschatus, Von Dueben). To study the diet of these animals, fecal samples were collected from three main vegetation communities commonly used by these herbivores. The communities were: Sub-xerophilic dry forest, Savanna and prairie, Flood plain and swamp. In each of the vegetation communities, 6 fresh samples of feces were collected, which were preserved and analyzed later in the laboratory. The results of the frequency of occurrence of plants in the feces of herbivores were corrected using digestibility correction factors. These factors were determined for each herbivore species, using formulas obtained from the literature. The X2 test showed that the quantitative composition of the diet of the five herbivore species was significantly different in the three communities so the average diet of the herbivores in the Reserve was determined using the weighted average diet in the three communities. The contribution weight of each vegetation community was indirectly determined by determining the density of herbivore feces in each vegetation community. Densities were converted into frequency multiplying factors by multiplying with the areas of each plant community. Factors were determined for each herbivore species in the three vegetation communities. The results obtained showed that during the dry season the elephant consumes more dicots and is therefore considered a "browser". The chango has a varied diet in the three communities, having behaved as a "browser" in the sub xerophilic dry forest and as a "grazer" in the savanna and floodplain and swamp. Goats consume more dicotyledons and are therefore considered "browser". The specific diversity indices (H') were higher for the elephant during both seasons and tend to be higher during the rainy season. Diet overlap indices (Ro) vary from species to species but tend to be higher in the rainy season. higher rates of diet overlap were found among the goats. (TRADUÇÃO NOSSA)