Ecological applications of near infrared reflectance spectroscopy - a tool for rapid, cost-effective prediction of the composition of plant and animal tissues and aspects of animal performance.

Many ecological studies rely heavily on chemical analysis of plant and animal tissues. Often, there is limited time and money to perform all the required analyses and this can result in less than ideal sampling schemes and poor levels of replication. Near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) can relieve these constraints because it can provide quick, non-destructive and quantitative analyses of an enormous range of organic constituents of plant and animal tissues.