Diet composition of moose (Alces alces) in winter, Sweden

<p><span>1. </span><span>Differences in botanical diet compositions among a large number of moose fecal samples </span><span>collected during winter correlated with the nutritional differences identified in the same </span><span>samples </span><span>(Mantel-r = 0.89, p = 0.001)</span><span>, but the nutritional differences were significantly smaller </span><span>(p &lt; 0.001)</span><span>.</span></p> <p><span>2. Nutritional geometry revealed that moose mixed Scots pine <em>Pinus sylvestris</em> and <em>Vaccinium</em> </span><span>spp. as nutritionally complementary foods to reach a nutritional target resembling <em>Salix</em> spp. </span><span>twigs, and selected for <em>Salix</em> spp. browse (Jacob's D &gt; 0).</span></p> <p><span>3. Available protein (AP) and total non-structural carbohydrates (TNC) were significantly </span><span>correlated in observed diets but not in hypothetical diets based on food availability.</span></p> <p><span>4. The level of Acetoacetate in moose serum (i.e., 'starvation') was weakly negatively </span><span>associated with digestibility of diets (p = 0.08) and unrelated to increasing AP:TNC and </span><span>AP:NDF ratios in diets (p &gt; 0.1).</span></p> <p><span>5. Our study is the first to demonstrate complementary feeding in free-ranging moose to attain a </span><span>nutritional target that has previously been suggested in a feeding trial with captive moose. </span><span>Our results add support to the hypothesis of nutritional balancing as a driver in the nutritional </span><span>strategy of moose with implications for both the management of moose and food resources.</span></p>