Vertebrate Food Pathway and Gut: Overview

Ian D Hume, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

Published online: April 2001

DOI: 10.1038/npg.els.0001833

The width of an animal's nutritional niche is determined by (a) the amounts of energy and specific nutrients it requires; and (b) how successfully it acquires and extracts those nutrients from available food resources.

Keywords: predation; herbivory; enzymatic digestion; microbial fermentation

 Further Reading
    book Hume ID (1999) Marsupial Nutrition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    book McDonald P, Edwards RA, Greenhalgh JFD and Morgan CA (1995) Animal Nutrition. 5th edn. Burnt Mill, UK: Longman.
    book Robbins CT (1993) Wildlife Feeding and Nutrition, 2nd edn. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
    book Stevens CE and Hume ID (1995) Comparative Physiology of the Vertebrate Digestive System, 2nd edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Related Sub-Topics:

Enzymes: Structure and Action Mechanism | Herbivory, Predation and Parasitism | Microbial Respiration and Fermentation
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Article Title: Vertebrate Food Pathway and Gut: Overview
 
How to Cite close
Hume, Ian D(Apr 2001) Vertebrate Food Pathway and Gut: Overview. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1038/npg.els.0001833]