Trophic niche partitioning of dominant North-Atlantic krill species, Meganyctiphanes norvegica , Thysanoessa inermis , and T. raschii

2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 165-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Cabrol ◽  
T. Trombetta ◽  
S. Amaudrut ◽  
F. Aulanier ◽  
R. Sage ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Niche Partitioning ◽  
Trophic Niche ◽  
Meganyctiphanes Norvegica

scholarly journals Three-dimensional niche partitioning between two colonially nesting ardeid species in central China

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuanxing Ye ◽  
Canshi Hu ◽  
Yiting Jiang ◽  
Geoffrey W. H. Davison ◽  
Changqing Ding
Keyword(s):  
Niche Partitioning ◽  
Trophic Niche ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Central China ◽  
Paddy Fields ◽  
Shaanxi Province ◽  
Similar Species ◽  
Wetland Birds ◽  
Cattle Egret ◽  
River Banks

Abstract Background Interspecific competition is known to be strongest between those species that are both closely related and sympatric. Egrets are colonially nesting wetland birds that often overlap and can therefore be expected to compete in roosting and nesting habitat as well as in diet. According to the niche partitioning hypothesis, it is to be expected that these similar species would show differentiation in at least one of the main niche dimensions to reduce competition. We tested niche partitioning between the colonially nesting Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) and Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) in temporal, spatial and trophic dimensions. Methods Field study was conducted in three mixed egret colonies in Yangxian County, southwest Shaanxi Province, central China. For each nest colony we recorded its spatial location, the height of nesting trees and of nests, the height of roosting trees and of roosting individuals within the trees. We determined the first egg-laying and first hatching dates of the two species. Craw dissection of storm-killed egret nestlings was used to measure the diet. Six transects were surveyed to study foraging habitat selection. Results We found that hatching time of Little Egrets peaked earlier (by about 1 month) than that of Cattle Egrets. Cattle Egrets nested and roosted higher than Little Egrets. The foraging habitats used by Little Egrets were dominated by river banks (73.49%), followed by paddy fields (13.25%) and reservoirs (10.84%), whereas Cattle Egret foraging sites were characterized by grasslands (44.44%), paddy fields (33.33%) and river banks (22.22%). Little Egrets consumed more fishes (65.66%) and Odonata larvae (13.69%) than Cattle Egrets, while Cattle Egrets were found feeding mainly on Coleoptera (29.69%) and Orthoptera (23.29%). Little Egrets preyed on larger mean biomasses of food items than Cattle Egrets. Conclusions Our results confirm the niche partitioning hypothesis as a mechanism for coexistence among ecologically similar species. In two coexisting egret species, niche partitioning is multidimensional, such that the two coexistent species occupy differing ecological space based on all three temporal, spatial and trophic niche dimensions.

Identification of trophic niches of subterranean diving beetles in a calcrete aquifer by DNA and stable isotope analyses

2014 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tessa M. Bradford ◽  
William F. Humphreys ◽  
Andrew D. Austin ◽  
Steven J. B. Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Trophic Ecology ◽  
Niche Partitioning ◽  
Niche Differentiation ◽  
Trophic Niche ◽  
Coi Gene ◽  
Stable Isotope Analyses ◽  
Prey Preferences ◽  
Diving Beetles ◽  
Isotope Analyses

The Yilgarn calcrete aquifers in Western Australia are an interesting system for investigating the process of speciation within subterranean habitats, because of the limited opportunities for dispersal between isolated calcretes. The presence of different-sized diving beetles (Dytiscidae) in separate calcretes, including sympatric sister-species pairs, suggests that species may have evolved within calcretes by an adaptive shift as a result of ecological-niche differentiation. We have studied the potential for trophic niche partitioning in a sister triplet of diving beetles, of distinctly different sizes, from a single aquifer. Fragments of the mitochondrial COI gene, specific to known species of amphipods and copepods, were polymerase chain reaction-amplified from each of the three beetle species, indicating that there is an overlap in their prey items. Significant differences were found in the detected diets of the three species, and results showed a propensity for prey preferences of amphipods by the large beetles and one species of copepod for the small beetles. A terrestrial source of carbon to the calcrete was suggested by stable isotope analyses. The combined approach of molecular, stable isotope and behavioural studies have provided insight into the trophic ecology of this difficult-to-access environment, providing a framework for more fine-scale analyses of the diet of different-sized species to examine speciation underground.

scholarly journals The role of ecotype‐environment interactions in intraspecific trophic niche partitioning subsequent to stocking

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Morissette ◽  
P. Sirois ◽  
C. C. Wilson ◽  
M. Laporte ◽  
L. Bernatchez
Keyword(s):  
Niche Partitioning ◽  
Trophic Niche

The food of Meganyctiphanes norvegica (M. Sars), with an assessment of the contributions of its components to the vitamin a reserves of the animal

1959 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 291-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. R. Fisher ◽  
E. H. Goldie
Keyword(s):  
Vitamin A ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Stomach Contents ◽  
Intensive Study ◽  
Fresh Material ◽  
Marine Station ◽  
Meganyctiphanes Norvegica ◽  
A Chain

The importance of Meganyctiphanes norvegica (M. Sars) as a source of vitamin A for its predators has been demonstrated by Fisher, Kon & Thompson (1955). Basing their conclusions on the observations of Macdonald (1927) on the feeding of M. norvegica in Loch Fyne, Fisher, Kon & Thompson (1954) and Kon (1954) suggested a possible scheme of accumulation of vitamin A in the animal. They also made cursory examinations of the stomach contents from animals caught in the same area and their findings appeared to agree fairly well with those of Macdonald, except that from his results he concluded that phytoplankton was a major item in the diet. This conclusion has been disputed by Einarsson (1945) who called for more detailed investigation of fresh material in order to obtain a clearer picture of the feeding of north Atlantic euphausiids. Such information would be of great value in the study of the vitamin A chain in the plankton. We have, therefore, examined the stomach contents of M. norvegica over nearly two years to try to detect every type of food that might be eaten. In addition to our own survey, Dr J. Mauchline (1959) of the Marine Station, Millport, made a more intensive study of the food in relation to the diurnal migrations in July and November.

scholarly journals Modelling the influence of daytime distribution on the transport of two sympatric krill species (Thysanoessa raschii and Meganyctiphanes norvegica) in the Gulf of St Lawrence, eastern Canada

2013 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 282-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frédéric Maps ◽  
Stéphane Plourde ◽  
Diane Lavoie ◽  
Ian McQuinn ◽  
Joël Chassé
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Baleen Whale ◽  
Surface Salinity ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Estuary Mouth ◽  
Meganyctiphanes Norvegica ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Abundant Supply ◽  
Daytime Behaviour

Abstract Maps, F., Plourde, S., Lavoie, D., McQuinn, I., and Chassé, J. 2014. Modelling the influence of daytime distribution on the transport of two sympatric krill species (Thysanoessa raschii and Meganyctiphanes norvegica) in the Gulf of St Lawrence, eastern Canada. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 71: 282–292. The Gulf of St Lawrence (GSL) provides several species of North Atlantic baleen whale with an abundant supply of krill, dominated by Thysanoessa raschii and Meganyctiphanes norvegica. We aimed to quantify the differences in upstream advection resulting from the interaction between the circulation and the specific diel vertical migration of T. raschii and M. norvegica at the scale of the northwest GSL. We coupled a regional circulation model with Lagrangian models where the daytime depth followed specific functions of surface salinity. Our results help to explain the spatio-temporal variability in both T. raschii and M. norvegica distributions. We identified in particular spatio-temporal patterns in krill upstream transport. During summer and autumn, the upstream transport of krill is steady across Jacques Cartier Strait, limited across Honguedo Strait, and more sporadic across the Estuary mouth. We estimated that the upstream advection of krill particles across the Estuary mouth would be higher by 16–17% for the T. raschii than for the M. norvegica daytime behaviour. Our results also suggest that the advective processes operating on the adults during the productive season are not the only cause for the observed magnitude of the interannual and interspecific variability in krill abundance.

scholarly journals Intersexual Trophic Niche Partitioning in an Ant-Eating Spider (Araneae: Zodariidae)

PLoS ONE ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. e14603 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stano Pekár ◽  
Martina Martišová ◽  
Trine Bilde
Keyword(s):  
Niche Partitioning ◽  
Trophic Niche ◽  
Ant Eating
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