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Do Nectar- And Fruit-Eating Birds Have Lower Nitrogen Requirements Than Omnivores? An Allometric Test, E. Tsahar, Z. Ara, I. Izhaki, Carlos Martinez Del Rio
Do Nectar- And Fruit-Eating Birds Have Lower Nitrogen Requirements Than Omnivores? An Allometric Test, E. Tsahar, Z. Ara, I. Izhaki, Carlos Martinez Del Rio
Carlos Martinez del Rio
We used an allometric approach to compare the minimum nitrogen requirements (MNR) and the total endogenous nitrogen loss (TENL) of nectar- and fruit-eating birds with those of omnivorous birds. These two parameters were 4x higher in omnivores than in nectarivores and frugivores. In nectarivorous-frugivorous birds, MNR was 152.8 mg N kg(-0.76) day(-1); in omnivorous birds, it was 575.4 mg N kg(-0.76) day(-1). Similarly, TENL was 54.1 mg N kg(-0.69) day(-1) in nectarivores-frugivores, and 215.3 mg N kg(-0.69) day(-1) in omnivores. The residuals of the allometric relationships between TENL and MNR and body mass were positively correlated, which suggests that a …