Increased physical activity is not related to markers of cardiometabolic health in two lemur species
Insufficient physical activity is a major risk factor for cardiometabolic disease (i.e., unhealthy weight gain, heart disease, and diabetes) in humans and may also negatively affect health of primates in human care. Effects of physical activity on energy expenditure and cardiometabolic health are virtually unstudied in nonhuman primates. We investigated physical activity and metabolic markers […]
Food consumption and energy budgets of the giraffe
(1) To estimate the efficiency of the foraging strategy described in Pellew (1984), the rates of food intake of adult giraffe in the Serengeti National Park are assessed. Daily energy intakes derived from the diet are compared with estimates of the energy requirements for year-round reproduction. The reproductive performance of giraffe in the Serengeti is […]
Energy budgets of ectothermic vertebrates
Ecological energetics provides a unifying focus for ecological studies. Heat energy budget analysis is used to predict the body temperatures of animals and their microclimatic requirements. Climate space diagrams, transient energy balance models and operative environmental temperature models predict daily and seasonal activity patterns, predator-prey interactions and energy requirements of vertebrate ectotherms. Food energy budget […]