| Title: | Volatiles and Tannins in Pistacia lentiscus and Their Role in Browsing Behavior of Goats (Capra hircus) |
| Author(s): | Navon S; Kigel J; Dudai N; Knaanie A; Glasser TA; Shachter A; Ungar ED; |
| Address: | "Department of Natural Resources, Institute of Plant Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization - The Volcani Center, P.O. Box 6, 50250, Bet Dagan, Israel. shilo.navon@mail.huji.ac.il. Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 76100, Rehovot, Israel. shilo.navon@mail.huji.ac.il. Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 76100, Rehovot, Israel. Unit of Aromatic and Medicinal plants, Newe Ya'ar Research Center, Agricultural Research Organization, 3009500, Ramat-Yishay, Israel. Large Numbers, Jerusalem, Israel. Ramat Hanadiv Nature Park, 3095202, Zichron Ya'akov, Israel. Department of Natural Resources, Institute of Plant Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization - The Volcani Center, P.O. Box 6, 50250, Bet Dagan, Israel" |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s10886-019-01124-x |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1573-1561 (Electronic) 0098-0331 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Goat herding is an important tool in the ecologically sound management of Mediterranean shrublands and woodlands, although effective levels of woody biomass removal by the goats is neither guaranteed nor easy to predict. Preliminary observations indicated that one reason for this may be poor understanding of plant-herbivore interactions that operate intraspecifically at the local spatial scale. We asked, whether goats show intraspecific preferences among neighboring plants when foraging a small local population of Pistacia lentiscus, a dominant tall shrub. First, we characterized and quantified the profile of stored and emitted volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and the PEG-binding capacity of tannins (a proxy for protein binding capacity) in the foliage of P. lentiscus shrubs, sampled within an area of 0.9 ha. We then tested goat preference between pairs of these shrubs that differed in chemical composition. Almost all sampled P. lentiscus shrubs were allocated to one of two distinct VOC chemotypes: one dominated by germacrene D and limonene (designated chemotype L) and the other by germacrene D and alpha-pinene (chemotype P). In contrast, continuous moderate variability was found in the binding capacity of tannins in the foliage. Goats showed preference for shrubs of chemotype L over those of chemotype P, and their preference was negatively correlated with the binding capacity of tannins. Possible influences of VOCs on goat preference that may explain the observed patterns are discussed in the light of possible context-dependent interpretation of plant VOC signals by large mammalian herbivores" |
| Keywords: | Animals Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Goats/physiology Herbivory/*drug effects Linear Models Pistacia/*chemistry/metabolism Plant Leaves/chemistry/metabolism Principal Component Analysis Tannins/analysis/chemistry/*pharmacology Volatile Organic Com; |
| Notes: | "MedlineNavon, Shilo Kigel, Jaime Dudai, Nativ Knaanie, Ariela Glasser, Tzach Aharon Shachter, Alona Ungar, Eugene David eng 2019/12/18 J Chem Ecol. 2020 Jan; 46(1):99-113. doi: 10.1007/s10886-019-01124-x. Epub 2019 Dec 16" |
