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Observations on changes in the quality of food eaten by the wild rabbit *
Author(s) -
MYERS K.,
BULTS H. G.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
australian journal of ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1442-9993
pISSN - 0307-692X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1442-9993.1977.tb01139.x
Subject(s) - mediterranean climate , biology , arid , population , ecology , food intake , dry weight , food quality , zoology , food science , agronomy , medicine , environmental health , endocrinology
The quality of the food eaten by rabbits can be predicted from the quality of the recently ingested food in the anterior portion of the stomach using the equation: crude protein in food (% dry weight) = 1.42 × crude protein in stomach (% dry weight). The relationship which food bears to the ecology of rabbits differs from population to population. In semi‐arid north‐western and mediterranean New South Wales changes in food quality are closely related to changes in climate and to various important aspects of rabbit biology. In southern Queensland and subalpine New South Wales, quality of food in the stomach is less significantly related to changes in climate and the biological parameters measured.