The Maintenance Nitrogen Requirements of the Queensland Blossom Bat (Syconycteris australis) on a Sugar/Pollen Diet: Is Nitrogen a Limiting Resource?

作者：Bradley Law · 发表于：Physiological Zoology · 年份：1992 · DOI：10.1086/physzool.65.3.30157974 · 被引用次数：68 · 研究领域：Bat Biology and Ecology Studies、Wildlife Ecology and Conservation、Species Distribution and Climate Change

The Queensland blossom bat (Syconycteris australis) is a specialist nectar and pollen feeder. Its dietary maintenance nitrogen requirement (MNR), determined by feeding blossom bats varying levels of pollen in an artificial sugar solution, was 337 mg N · kg−0.75 · d−1. This is similar to nitrogen requirements predicted from the standard metabolic rate of blossom bats. Dry-matter digestibility (79%–89%) and partial apparent nitrogen digestibility (58%-97%) was high for the sugar/pollen diet. Dry-matter intake was not correlated with dietary nitrogen as previously predicted for pteropodids. Although pollen is a rich source of dietary nitrogen, it is a highly dispersed food source. On the basis of nitrogen content of Banksia pollen and mean pollen standing crops (27 ± 2 pollen bundles per inflorescence, N = 128) I predict that many Banksia inflorescences (36–48) need to be visited each night to satisfy the MNR of an 18-g blossom bat. Even more Banksia inflorescences (28-62) must be visited nightly to satisfy allometrically predicted energy requirements of blossom bats on the basis of mean Banksia energy standing crops (1.2 ± 0.1 kJ per in florescence, N = 128). Previous interpretations of nitrogen as the primary limiting nutrient to flying foxes may need to be reconsidered for those species that supplement their diet with pollen.