Could the Content of Soluble Carbohydrates in the Young Shoots of Selected Willow Cultivars Be a Determinant of the Plants’ Attractiveness to Cervids (Cervidae, Mammalia)?

Maciej Budny, Kazimierz Zalewski, Lesław Bernard Lahuta, Mariusz Jerzy Stolarski, Robert Stryiński and Adam Okorski
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Maciej Budny: Polish Hunting Association, Research Station, Sokolnicza 12, 64-020 Czempiń, Poland
Kazimierz Zalewski: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Oczapowskiego 1a, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland
Lesław Bernard Lahuta: Department of Plant Physiology, Genetics and Biotechnology, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Oczapowskiego 1a, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland
Mariusz Jerzy Stolarski: Department of Genetics, Plant Breeding and Bioresource Engineering, University of Warmia and Mazury, in Olsztyn, Plac Łódzki 3, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland
Robert Stryiński: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Oczapowskiego 1a, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland
Adam Okorski: Department of Entomology, Phytopathology and Molecular Diagnostics, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Prawocheńskiego 17, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Ten willow cultivars grown in experimental plots were evaluated for performance, attractiveness to foragers, and the content and composition of soluble carbohydrates. The survival of willow cuttings in a thicket and in browse plots differed subject to cultivar, soil quality, and soil moisture content. The number of stump sprouts varied considerably, from 1.1 shoots in the weakest soils in Słonin, Poland, to 3.43 in the plot in Czempin, Poland. Browse plots were established in 2017. They were cut, and fencing was removed in early spring of 2019. Young shoots (10 cm shoot tip with buds, preferably eaten by animals) were sampled for analyses of soluble carbohydrates as potential attractors for foraging cervids. All willow cultivars contained the same soluble carbohydrates: glucose, fructose, galactose, sucrose, myo -inositol, galactinol, and raffinose. Total carbohydrate content ranged from 21.31 ( S. amygdalina 1045) to 69.37 mg/g −1 DM (dry matter) ( S. purpurea ). Glucose was the predominant soluble sugar in the shoots of all willow cultivars, excluding S. viminalis . The fructose content of the shoots was approximately twice lower than their glucose content in all willow cultivars. Smaller differences were observed in the content of myo -inositol, which ranged from 4.61 ( S. amygdalina 1045) to 8.26 mg/g −1 DM ( S. fragilis cv. Kamon/Resko). The phloem of all willow species contained small quantities of galactinol and trace amounts of raffinose. Weak negative correlations were noted between total carbohydrate content, the content of glucose, fructose, and galactose vs. the attractiveness of willow shoots to foraging cervids. The remaining carbohydrates that occurred in smaller quantities in willow shoots were not correlated with their attractiveness to cervids.

Keywords: willow browse; soluble carbohydrates; browsing damage; cervids; gas chromatography (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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