Hostname: page-component-7dd5485656-k8lnt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-31T13:59:02.633Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Evaluation of n-alkanes and their carbon isotope enrichments (δ13C) as diet composition markers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2010

M. Bezabih ,
W. F. Pellikaan ,
A. Tolera  and
W. H. Hendriks
M. Bezabih*
Affiliation:
Animal Nutrition Group, Department of Animal Sciences, Wageningen University, PO Box 338, 6700 AH Wageningen, The Netherlands Department of Animal and Range Sciences, Hawassa University, PO Box 5, Hawassa, Ethiopia
W. F. Pellikaan
Affiliation:
Animal Nutrition Group, Department of Animal Sciences, Wageningen University, PO Box 338, 6700 AH Wageningen, The Netherlands
A. Tolera
Affiliation:
Department of Animal and Range Sciences, Hawassa University, PO Box 5, Hawassa, Ethiopia
W. H. Hendriks
Affiliation:
Animal Nutrition Group, Department of Animal Sciences, Wageningen University, PO Box 338, 6700 AH Wageningen, The Netherlands
*
†E-mail: derseh7@yahoo.com
Get access

Abstract

Plant cuticular n-alkanes have been successfully used as markers to estimate diet composition and intake of grazing herbivores. However, additional markers may be required under grazing conditions in botanically diverse vegetation. This study was conducted to describe the n-alkane profiles and the carbon isotope enrichment of n-alkanes of common plant species from the Mid Rift Valley rangelands of Ethiopia, and evaluate their potential use as nutritional markers. A total of 23 plant species were collected and analysed for long-chain n-alkanes ranging from heptacosane to hexatriacontane (C27 to C36), as well as their carbon isotopic ratio (13C/12C). The analysis was conducted by gas chromatography/combustion isotope ratio mass spectrometry following saponification, extraction and purification. The isotopic composition of the n-alkanes is reported in the delta notation (δ13C) relative to the Vienna Pee Dee Belemnite standard. The dominant n-alkanes in the species were C31 (mean ± s.d., 283 ± 246 mg/kg dry matter) and C33 (149 ± 98 mg/kg dry matter). The carbon isotopic enrichment of the n-alkanes ranged from −19.37‰ to −37.40‰. Principal component analysis was used to examine interspecies differences based on n-alkane profiles and the carbon isotopic enrichments of individual n-alkanes. Large variability among the pasture species was observed. The first three principal components explained most of the interspecies variances. Comparison of the principal component scores using orthogonal procrustes rotation indicated that about 0.84 of the interspecies variances explained by the two types of data sets were independent of each other, suggesting that the use of a combination of the two markers can improve diet composition estimations. It was concluded that, while the n-alkane profile of the pasture species remains a useful marker for use in the study region, the δ13C values of n-alkanes can provide additional information in discriminating diet components of grazing animals.

Keywords

n-alkanescarbon isotopemarkerdiet compositionfeed intake

Information

Type
Full Paper
Information
animal , Volume 5 , Issue 1 , January 2011 , pp. 57 - 66
Copyright
Copyright © The Animal Consortium 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Ali, HAM, Mayes, RW, Hector, BL, Ørskov, ER 2005. Assessment of n-alkanes, long-chain fatty alcohols and long-chain fatty acids as diet composition markers: the concentrations of these compounds in rangeland species from Sudan. Animal Feed Science and Technology 121, 257–271.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bailey, DW, Dumont, B, WallisDeVries, MF 1998. Utilization of heterogeneous grasslands by domestic herbivores: theory to management. Annales de Zootechnie 47, 321–333.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barcia, P, Bugalho, MN, Campagnolo, ML, Cerdeira, JO 2007. Using n-alkanes to estimate diet composition of herbivores: a novel mathematical approach. Animal 1, 141–149.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bendle, JA, Kawamura, K, Yamazaki, K 2006. Seasonal changes in stable carbon isotopic composition of n-alkanes in the marine aerosols from the western North Pacific: implications for the source and atmospheric transport. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 70, 13–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bennett, LL, Hammond, AC, Williams, MJ, Chase, CC Jr, Kunkle, WE 1999. Diet selection by steers using microhistological and stable carbon isotope ratio analyses. Journal of Animal Science 77, 2252–2258.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bugalho, MN, Barcia, P, Caldeira, MC, Cerdeira, JO 2008. Stable isotopes as ecological tracers: an efficient method for assessing the contribution of multiple sources to mixtures. Biogeosciences 5, 1351–1359.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bugalho, MN, Dove, H, Kelman, W, Wood, JT, Mayes, RW 2004. Plant wax alkanes and alcohols as herbivore diet composition markers. Journal of Range Management 57, 259–268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Central Statistical Agency (CSA) 2007. Agricultural sample survey 2006/07, vol. 2, CSA, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.Google Scholar
Coates, DB, Schachenmann, P, Jones, RJ 1987. Reliability of extrusa samples collected from steers fistulated at the oesophagus to estimate the diet of resident animals in grazing experiments. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 27, 739–745.Google Scholar
Dove, H, Mayes, RW 1991. The use of plant wax alkanes as marker substances in studies of the nutrition of herbivores: a review. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 42, 913–952.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dove, H, Mayes, RW 1996. Plant wax components: a new approach to estimating intake and diet composition in herbivores. Journal of Nutrition 126, 13–26.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dove, H, Mayes, RW 2005. Using n-alkanes and other plant wax components to estimate intake, digestibility and diet composition of grazing/browsing sheep and goats. Small Ruminant Research 59, 123–139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dove, H, Mayes, RW 2006. Protocol for the analysis of n-alkanes and other plant-wax compounds and for their use as markers for quantifying the nutrient supply of large mammalian herbivores. Nature Protocols 1, 1680–1697.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dove, H, Mayes, RW, Freer, M 1996. Effects of species, plant part, and plant age on the n-alkane concentrations in the cuticular wax of pasture plants. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 47, 1333–1347.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dove, H, Wood, JT, Simpson, RJ, Leury, BJ, Ciavarella, TA, Gatford, KL, Siever-Kelly, C 1999. Spray-topping annual grass pasture with glyphosate to delay loss of feeding value during summer. III. Quantitative basis of the alkane-based procedures for estimating diet selection and herbage intake by grazing sheep. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 50, 475–485.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dumont, B, Carrere, P, D’Hour, P 2002. Foraging in patchy grasslands: diet selection by sheep and cattle is affected by the abundance and spatial distribution of preferred species. Animal Research 51, 367–381.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ehleringer, JR 1991. 13C/12C Fractionation and its utility in terrestrial plant studies. Academic Press, San Diego, California, USA.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferreira, LMM, Celaya, R, Garcia, U, Rodrigues, MAM, Osoro, K 2009. Differences between domestic herbivores species in alkane faecal recoveries and the accuracy of subsequent estimates of diet composition. Animal Feed Science and Technology 151, 128–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferreira, LMM, Garcia, U, Rodrigues, MAM, Celaya, R, Dias-da-Silva, A, Osoro, K 2007. The application of the n-alkane technique for estimating the composition of diets consumed by equines and cattle feeding on upland vegetation communities. Animal Feed Science and Technology 138, 47–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fraser, MD, Theobald, VJ, Moorby, JM 2006. Determining diet composition on complex swards using n-alkanes and long-chain fatty alcohols. Ecological Applications 16, 1901–1910.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Garcia, SC, Holmes, CW, Hodgson, J, Macdonald, A 2000. The combination of the n-alkanes and 13C techniques to estimate individual dry matter intakes of herbage and maize silage by grazing dairy cows. Journal of Agricultural Science 135, 47–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kassahun, A, Snyman, HA, Smit, GN 2008. Impact of rangeland degradation on the pastoral production systems, livelihoods and perceptions of the Somali pastoralists in Eastern Ethiopia. Journal of Arid Environments 72, 1265–1281.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keli, A, Mayes, RW, Vega de, A 2008. In vitro studies of the metabolism of [14C]-n-alkanes using ruminal fluid of sheep as substrate. Animal 2, 1748–1752.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kelman, W, Bugalho, M, Dove, H 2003. Cuticular wax alkanes and alcohols used as markers to estimate diet composition of sheep (Ovis aries). Biochemical Systematics and Ecology 31, 919–927.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marshall, JD, Zhang, J 1994. Carbon isotope discrimination and water-use efficiency in native plants of the North-Central Rockies. Ecology 75, 1887–1895.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayes, RW 1998. New potential markers for determination of diet composition. In Proceedings of the IXth European Intake Workshop (ed. MD Gibb), pp. 63–66. Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, North Wyke, UK.Google Scholar
Mayes, RW, Dove, H 2000. Measurement of dietary nutrient intake in free-ranging mammalian herbivores. Nutrition Research Reviews 13, 107–138.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mayes, RW, Lamb, CS, Colgrove, PM 1986. The use of dosed and herbage n-alkanes as markers for the determination of herbage intake. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 107, 161–170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) 2000. Agro ecological zones of Ethiopia. MoA, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.Google Scholar
Monks, A, Payton, I, Efford, M 2005. Validation of the n-alkane technique for estimating diet composition, digestibility and dry matter intake in the brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula). Wildlife Research 32, 321–331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muccio, Z, Jackson, GP 2009. Isotope ratio mass spectrometry. Analyst 134, 213–222.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Norman, HC, Wilmot, MG, Thomas, DT, Masters, DG, Revell, DK 2009. Stable carbon isotopes accurately predict diet selection by sheep fed mixtures of C3 annual pastures and saltbush or C4 perennial grasses. Livestock Science 121, 162–172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oliván, M, Ferreira, LMM, Celaya, R, Osoro, K 2007a. Accuracy of the n-alkane technique for intake estimates in beef cattle using different sampling procedures and feeding levels. Livestock Science 106, 28–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oliván, M, Ferreira, LMM, Garcia, U, Celaya, R, Osoro, K 2007b. Application of n-alkanes as diet composition markers in grazing/browsing goats and sheep: effect of using different faecal recovery corrections and plant species grouping approaches. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 58, 1013–1022.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Osmond, CB, Allaway, WG, Sutton, BG, Troughton, JH, Queiroz, O, Luettge, U, Winter, K 1973. Carbon isotope discrimination in photosynthesis of CAM plants. Nature 246, 41–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prache, S, Gordon, IJ, Rook, AJ 1998. Foraging behaviour and diet selection in domestic herbivores. Annales de Zootechnie 47, 335–345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pueyo, Y, De Vega, A, Askar, AR, Guada, JA 2005. Effect of species and plant part on n-alkane concentrations in the cuticular wax of common browse pastures from middle Ebro valley (Spain). In Proceedings of the First Joint Seminar of the FAOCIHEAM Sheep and Goat Nutrition and Mountain and Mediterranean Pasture Sub-Networks (ed. EM Alcaide, HB Salem, K Biala and P Morand-Fehr). Options Méditerranéennes – Série A. Granada, Spain, 67, 345–350pp.Google Scholar
Reddy, CM, Eglinton, TI, Palic, R, Benitez-Nelson, BC, Stojanovic, G, Palic, I, Djordjevic, S, Eglinton, G 2000. Even carbon number predominance of plant wax n-alkanes: a correction. Organic Geochemistry 31, 331–336.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salt, CA, Mayes, RW, Elston, DA 1992. Effects of season, grazing intensity and diet composition on the radiocaesium intake by sheep on re-seeded hill pasture. Journal of Applied Ecology 29, 378–387.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Samuels, L, Kunst, L, Jetter, R 2008. Sealing plant surfaces: cuticular wax formation by epidermal cells. Annual Review of Plant Biology 59, 683–707.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed