Faecal nutrient deposition of domestic and wild herbivores in an alpine grassland
Description
Our main objectives were 1) explore if herbivore faecal nutrient content (C, N, P, and K) and stoichiometry (C/N) differed between herbivore species (chamois, sheep, horse, and cattle) and body size groups in an alpine grassland (Spanish Pyrenees), 2) analyse seasonal differences in faecal nutrient content and stoichiometry of each species, and 3) quantify the amount of nutrients released annually by each herbivore. The data folder contains: 1) 1_nutrient_content: data to analyse the differences in faecal nutrient content and stoichiometry of the four herbivore species in an alpine grassland in the Spanish Pyrenees. Other information is also included: body size (small or large), feeding strategy (browser or grazer), digestive system (ruminant or non-ruminant), month and year of collection of the dung, and study area where the dung was collected. 2) 2_nutrient_input: data to quantify the annual nutrient input of each herbivore per each nutrient. This dataset includes information per species about dry dung weight, defecation events per day, days on the field, and extension of the study area. The scripts folder contains: 1) 1_models: R script of the statistical analysis to check the differences in faecal nutrient content and stoichiometry among herbivore species and between body sizes. Also, the seasonal nutrient content differences. 2) 2_graphs: R script to create figure2, figure3 and figure4.
Files
Steps to reproduce
All methodologies (dung collection and statistical analysis) can be found in the Methodology part of the main paper.