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Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1973 October; 70(10): 2745–2748.
PMCID: PMC427100
Sodium Dynamics in a Northern Ecosystem*
D. B. Botkin, P. A. Jordan, A. S. Dominski, H. S. Lowendorf, and G. E. Hutchinson
School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520
Department of Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520
* Isle Royale material contributed by the first four authors; additional information and interpretation contributed by G. E. Hutchinson.
Abstract
Analyses of terrestrial sources of sodium and estimates of the sodium requirement of moose (Alces alces) on Isle Royale, Lake Superior, suggest that availability of the element controls the moose population. The terrestrial vegetation is very poor in the element, but, as elsewhere, submerged and floating leaved water-plants are relatively rich. Consumption of such plants in summer would provide an adequate source, if the animal can store the element. The fairly high sodium contents of freshwater vegetation have been little appreciated. In general, sodium concentration in water-plants, unlike that of potassium, is not correlated with chloride but the latter is ordinarily in excess of the sodium, so that uptake of the latter implies an equivalent supply of NaCl.
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Selected References
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  • Brownell, PF; Crossland, CJ. The Requirement for Sodium as a Micronutrient by Species Having the C(4) Dicarboxylic Photosynthetic Pathway. Plant Physiol. 1972 May;49(5):794–797. [PubMed]
  • Aumann, GD; Emlen, JT. Relation of population density to sodium availability and sodium selection by microtine rodents. Nature. 1965 Oct 9;208(5006):198–199. [PubMed]
  • Lancaster, RJ; Coup, MR; Hughes, JW. Toxicity of arsenic present in lakeweed. N Z Vet J. 1971 Jul;19(7):141–145. [PubMed]
  • DENTON, DA. The study of sheep with permanent unilateral parotid fistulae. Q J Exp Physiol Cogn Med Sci. 1957 Jan;42(1):72–95. [PubMed]