Orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii) in
Gunung Palung National Park, West Kalimantan,
Indonesia experience significant seasonal and
annual fluctuations in the availability of their
preferred food, ripe fruit. When ripe fruit is limited,
orangutans increase their consumption of bark,
pith, and leaves, which are continuously available
and may act as fallback foods. While these
foods are presumed to be less nutritious, it is not
clear whether this is the case. Free simple sugars
(FSS) provide orangutans with readily-metabolizable
energy, and are thus an important nutritional
compound for food choice. Here, we examine
FSS concentrations in a variety of orangutan
foods (n=54) to better understand orangutan
foraging and nutritional ecology. We predicted
that preferred foods would have higher concentrations
of FSS than fallback foods.
We analyzed FSS concentrations using a modified
phenol-sulfuric acid method, and tested
sample absorbency using a spectrophotometer
at 490 nm. We analyzed 54 samples from 48
species, examining six plant parts: bark, flowers,
leaves, pulp, seeds, and skin/pulp. Although
preliminary results indicated no statistically significant
differences in sugar content across the six
food categories (F(5,47)=1.78, p=0.14), we did
find that preferred foods (fruit pulp and seeds)
had an average sugar concentration that was significantly higher (4.7%) than fallback foods
(leaves and bark) (t=2.355, p=0.04).
Therefore, as predicted, we find that orangutans
prefer food types with higher concentrations of
FSS. Obtaining adequate caloric and nutritional
intake is crucial for orangutan reproduction
and development, and thus this study provides
new insight into what drives orangutan dietary
choices.
National Science Foundation (BCS-1638823,
BCS-0936199, 9414388), National Geographic Society,
US Fish and Wildlife (F15AP00812, F12AP00369,
98210-8-G661), Leakey Foundation, Disney Wildlife
Conservation Fund, Wenner-Gren Foundation, Nacey-
Maggioncalda Foundation.
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Blue food demand across geographic and temporal scales
Abstract Numerous studies have focused on the need to expand production of ‘blue foods’, defined as aquatic foods captured or cultivated in marine and freshwater systems, to meet rising population- and income-driven demand. Here we analyze the roles of economic, demographic, and geographic factors and preferences in shaping blue food demand, using secondary data from FAO and The World Bank, parameters from published models, and case studies at national to sub-national scales. Our results show a weak cross-sectional relationship between per capita income and consumption globally when using an aggregate fish metric. Disaggregation by fish species group reveals distinct geographic patterns; for example, high consumption of freshwater fish in China and pelagic fish in Ghana and Peru where these fish are widely available, affordable, and traditionally eaten. We project a near doubling of global fish demand by mid-century assuming continued growth in aquaculture production and constant real prices for fish. Our study concludes that nutritional and environmental consequences of rising demand will depend on substitution among fish groups and other animal source foods in national diets.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1826668
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10345011
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Nature Communications
- Volume:
- 12
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 2041-1723
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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