Integrating Nutrient Supply and Demand in Variable Environments

Wildlife nutrition informs management of the condition of habitats and populations because changes in supplies and demands for one population may affect the entire food web and the structure of animal and plant communities. This book began with two questions that confront wildlife biologists:

• What does a population need?

• Will that population grow or decline, and why?

The approaches used in the book emphasize the importance of the energy and nutrient requirements of a species to complete its life cycle, and therefore of a population of individuals from each class of age and sex of this species to survive. An understanding of nutritional requirements and linkages is essential to understand the likely range of responses that will sustain a population or increase its resilience to anticipated and unexpected environmental changes. Wildlife biologists are therefore tasked with answering a third question for societies:

• What is the risk of changes to a population and its ecosystem?

The answers to this question will improve our stewardship of wildlife populations and the ecosystems we share with them.