Feeding habits of guanacosLama guanicoe in the high Andes of north-central Chile

The guanacoLama guanicoe Muller, 1776 has a wide distribution along the Andes and Patagonia. We studied the feeding behaviour of a guanaco population that lives over 4100 m altitude in the Andes of north-central Chile. By contrasting the diet of guanacos during a dry year with that of a wet year and comparing it with the plant availabilities in the field, we tested the hypothesis that the guanaco is a generalist herbivore. We predicted that under such extreme habitat conditions guanacos should consume whatever plant species are available in the environment, especially in a dry year, when vegetation is scarcer. In addition, we compared its diet at three different age classes. We estimated the diet through the microhistological analysis of plant remains found in guanaco pellets collected during January of 1997 (ie after a dry year) and 1998 (ie after a wet year; 41 vs 495 mm, respectively). Then, we computed dietary preferences, food niche-breadth, and food-niche overlap between years and among age classes. Vegetation cover and plant species richness were higher during the wet than during the dry year. The most common plants in the environment were perennial graminoids and legumes. Contrary to our prediction, the guanaco preferred a few plant species, showing a relatively narrow diet breadth that changed little between years differing in plant abundances. The diet proportions differed among the three age classes, however. Our data indicate that at least in this high-elevation population, guanacos are selective and non-opportunistic herbivores. This specialized feeding behaviour is puzzling given the energetic demands of living in a harsh environment with low availabilities of resources. The hypothesis that this is due to the lower palatability of the plants not eaten, remains to be tested.