. 2019 Apr 5;9:5675. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-42249-z

Table 1.

Variation in dung quality among several common European herbivore species.

Herbivore species	n	C (mg/g)	N (mg/g)	P (mg/g)	C:N ratio	C:P ratio	N:P ratio
European bison	6	445 ± 13^a	11.3 ± 0.5^c	2.13 ± 0.26^a,b	39.8 ± 1.0^a	224 ± 25^b,c	5.67 ± 0.67^b
Cow	7	480 ± 4^a	10.6 ± 0.3^c	1.67 ± 0.26^a,c	45.7 ± 0.9^a	317 ± 33^a,b	7.00 ± 0.76^b
Horse	5	473 ± 6^a	10.7 ± 0.4^c	1.29 ± 0.11^b,c	44.2 ± 1.5^a	376 ± 30^a,b	8.46 ± 0.54^b
Fallow deer	12	432 ± 10^b	19.7 ± 0.8^a	2.76 ± 0.39^a	22.5 ± 1.4^c	187 ± 21^c	8.65 ± 1.16^b
Rabbit	10	438 ± 11^b	16.6 ± 0.4^b	1.04 ± 0.10^c	26.4 ± 0.6^b	462 ± 51^a	17.4 ± 1.82^a

Dung C, N and P concentrations and C:N, C:P and N:P ratios (mean ± SE; n = 5–12) for several common European herbivore species from Kennemerduinen in winter. This dung was used in the mesocosm experiment. Values with different letters indicate significant differences between herbivore species (Tukey test, P < 0.05).