Patterns of Prickly-Pear Herbivory by Collared Peccaries

Abstract

Understanding patterns of prickly-pear (Opuntia phaeacantha) pad herbivory by collared peccaries (Tayassu tajacu) is necessary to accurately assess the nutritional value of this plant and to refine estimates of habitat quality based on pricly-pear abundance. Consequently, we investigated these patterns in central Arizona during 1989 and 1990. Peccaries fed on the pads of 1 morphological type of prickly-pear more (P<0.001) than expected from its availability compared to another morphological type of the same subspecies. Experiments using captive peccaries indicated that differences in spinescence affected pad choice, but that other plant characteristics also were important