ARS | Publication request: MULTI-DIMENSIONAL FLUORESCENCE FOR THE INVESTIGATION OF DIETARY HABITS OF FREE-RANGING HERBIVORES

Submitted to: Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies Final Program
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: May 1, 1999
Publication Date: October 24, 1999
Citation: RAYSON, G.D., DANIELSON, T.L., ANDERSON, D.M., ESTELL, R.E., FREDRICKSON, E.L., HAVSTAD, K.M. MULTI-DIMENSIONAL FLUORESCENCE FOR THE INVESTIGATION OF DIETARY HABITS OF FREE-RANGING HERBIVORES. FEDERATION OF ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY AND SPECTROSCOPY SOCIETIES FINAL PROGRAM. 1999. ABSTRACT NO. 634.

Technical Abstract: The determination of the dietary intake of domestic livestock is necessary for their effective management. This becomes more difficult when the animals are allowed to feed on native flora in open rangeland. Efforts in the past to provide information regarding a particular animal's dietary habits have used either highly invasive techniques or methods that are time eand labor intensive and very subjective. The objective of the present stud is to develop instrumentation to enable the interrogation of sample extracts using multi-dimensional fluorescence measurements for objective, rapid determination of plants eaten by a specific animal. Initial work has concentrated on the acquisition and post-processing of the excitation/ emission wavelength fluorescence matrices for each of six plant species typically eaten by free-ranging sheep in the desert southwestern United States. Results of these investigations will be presented with a description of the instrumentation used. The utility of alternate dimensions, including lifetimes and extracting solvent polarity, will be discussed.