Data from: The influence of plant defensive chemicals, diet composition, and winter severity on the nutritional condition of a free-ranging, generalist herbivore
Grace L. Parikh, Jennifer Sorensen Forbey, Brecken Robb, Rolf O. Peterson, Leah M. Vucetich & John A. Vucetich
When consuming plants, herbivores must deal with both low nutritional quality from cell wall constituents and potentially toxic plant secondary metabolites, which are often inversely related. Herbivores that consume a highly nutritious, but chemically defended plant, may consume high levels of toxins that require energy for detoxification. Alternatively, herbivores may avoid consuming high levels of toxins by consuming a diverse diet that may be lower in overall nutritional quality. In this study, we assessed the...