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The effect of varying calcium intake on calcium metabolism in wild rodent species
Author(s) -
Shore R. F.,
Balment R. J.,
Yalden D. W.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
journal of zoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1469-7998
pISSN - 0952-8369
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7998.1992.tb04342.x
Subject(s) - calcium , biology , bank vole , calcium metabolism , rodent , apodemus , feces , microtus , endocrinology , zoology , ecology , medicine , population , demography , sociology
Calcium is essential for mammals but distributed heterogeneously in the environment and so the calcium content of the diet of wild small mammals can vary with habitat geology. The effect of varying the calcium intake of two wild rodent species, the granivorous wood mouse Apodemus sylvaticus and the herbivorous bank vole Clethrionomys glareolus , was investigated. Wood mice were similar to laboratory rodents in their calcium metabolism. Net calcium gut absorption efficiency was 11–15% in wood mice fed either high (0˙87%) or low (0˙30%) calcium diet. No more than the equivalent of 6% of the ingested calcium load was excreted in urine but this was sufficient to eliminate the equivalent of all the extra calcium absorbed across the gut when mice were fed the high calcium diet. In contrast, mean net calcium gut absorption efficiency in bank voles was high and increased from 28% to 42% when dietary calcium content was tripled. Urine was important for excreting calcium, the equivalent of up to 23% of intake being eliminated by this route. Despite this, bank voles fed the high calcium diet assimilated three times more calcium than voles fed the low calcium diet; this was in direct proportion to the three‐fold difference in dietary calcium concentration. Possible implications for wild rodents in calcium‐rich and calcium‐poor habitats are discussed.