Prey Detection, Dietary Niche Breadth, and Body Size in Bats: Why are Aerial Insectivorous Bats so Small?

1991 ◽  
Vol 137 (5) ◽  
pp. 693-703 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Mark Brigham
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Niche Breadth ◽  
Prey Detection ◽  
Insectivorous Bats ◽  
Dietary Niche

Optimal foraging constrains macroecological patterns: body size and dietary niche breadth in lizards

2008 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 670-677 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel C. Costa ◽  
Laurie J. Vitt ◽  
Eric R. Pianka ◽  
Daniel O. Mesquita ◽  
Guarino R. Colli
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Optimal Foraging ◽  
Niche Breadth ◽  
Dietary Niche

scholarly journals Temporal shifts in intraspecific and interspecific diet variation: effects of predator body size and identity across seasons in a stream community

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Landon P. Falke ◽  
Jeremy S. Henderson ◽  
Mark Novak ◽  
Daniel L. Preston
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Niche Breadth ◽  
Prey Availability ◽  
Cutthroat Trout ◽  
Interspecific Variation ◽  
Foraging Mode ◽  
Predator Species ◽  
Diet Variation ◽  
Dietary Niche

AbstractIntraspecific variation is increasingly recognized as an important factor in ecological interactions, sometimes exceeding the role of interspecific variation. Few studies, however, have examined how intra-versus interspecific variation affect trophic interactions over time within a seasonally dynamic food web. We collected stomach contents from 2028 reticulate sculpin (Cottus perplexus), 479 cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii), and 107 Pacific giant salamanders (Dicamptodon tenebrosus) in western Oregon streams and compared diets among predator species and size classes over three seasons. Predator body size and species identity both showed strong effects on dietary niche breadth, proportional prey composition, and prey size, with seasonal variation in the relative magnitudes of intraspecific and interspecific diet variation. Size-associated diet variation was high in summer and fall but was heavily outweighed by species-associated diet variation in spring. This pattern was driven primarily by a 50-fold increase in the consumption of terrestrial thrips (Order: Thysanoptera) by cutthroat trout in spring compared to summer and fall. Mean dietary niche breadth generally increased with body size and was roughly half as wide in sculpin as in trout and was intermediate in salamanders. Predator-specific responses to the seasonality of terrestrial prey availability were associated with interspecific differences in foraging mode (e.g., benthic vs drift-feeding) and contributed to temporal variation in the roles of predator size and identity in trophic niche differentiation. Our results thereby demonstrate that intraspecific and interspecific diet variation can exhibit strong seasonality in stream predators, emphasizing the dynamic nature of food webs and the need to incorporate sampling over relevant temporal scales in efforts to understand species interactions.

scholarly journals Dietary niche breadth of endemic and introduced anurans (Amphibia: Anura) in Lombok, Lesser Sunda Islands– Indonesia

2021 ◽  
Vol 913 (1) ◽  
pp. 012046
Author(s):  
Y Zamroni ◽  
IGN Septian ◽  
NT Artiningrum ◽  
I Hadi
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Niche Breadth ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Stomach Content Analysis ◽  
Important Food ◽  
Large Body Size ◽  
Arthropod Predators ◽  
Reference Collection ◽  
Dietary Niche ◽  
Positive Correlations

Abstract Anurans are important organisms as components of faunal community structure in ecosystems because of their roles as secondary and tertiary consumers in food webs. Anurans are opportunistic organisms that will consume any resources in their habitat. In this study, we dissected thirty-nine specimens of anurans from Museum Universitas Mataram (MUM) reference collection, it consists by three endemic (Ingerophrynus biporcatus, Limnonectes dammarmani and L. kadarsani) and one introduced species (Duttaphrynus melanostictus) of anurans. These reference collections were collected by authors during herpetofauna survey at Pusuk Forest, western Lombok in 2018. Based on stomach content analysis, both endemic and introduced anurans are generalist arthropod predators where hymenoptera, coleoptera, orthoptera and chilopoda are the most important food. In this study, we found positive correlations between body size and dietary niche breadth in which each anuran species has a high overlap of dietary niches. Anurans with large body size have a variety of prey than the small one.

scholarly journals Diet of Ameerega braccata (Steindachner, 1864) (Anura: Dendrobatidae) from Chapada dos Guimarães and Cuiabá, Mato Grosso State, Brazil

2011 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 189-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
LR. Forti ◽  
ASO. Tissiani ◽  
T. Mott ◽  
C Strüssmann
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Niche Breadth ◽  
Prey Availability ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Close Association ◽  
Mato Grosso ◽  
Important Prey ◽  
Phylogenetic Perspective ◽  
Toxic Alkaloids ◽  
Two Populations

The understanding of feeding habits is important for anurans in general, both from an ecological and a phylogenetic perspective. For diurnal poison frogs belonging to the Dendrobatidae family, diet aspects play a crucial role in their defense and survival. Herein, we investigated feeding habits, foraging behaviour, and overall effects of habitat, sex, and body size on the diet of individuals of Ameerega braccata, a poorly known dendrobatid species. Specimens were observed and collected in the type-locality, Chapada dos Guimarães, and in the neighbouring municipality of Cuiabá, both in the State of Mato Grosso, Midwestern Brazil. The most important prey categories for A. braccata were Formicidae, Isoptera, and Acari, whose representatives were caught during active foraging. Individuals from Chapada dos Guimarães population consumed more Acari but fewer Isoptera than individuals from Cuiabá. Despite this, niche breadth values were narrow and similar for the two populations. Individuals from two distinct habitats (campo sujo and cerrado stricto sensu) showed differences in their diet, probably as an effect of differential prey availability. Females consumed more Isoptera than males. The number of prey categories used as food was not influenced by the variation of body size of the target species. However, the abundance and the volume of consumed Acari were statistically correlated with body size. The main results suggest that Ameerega braccata has a narrow niche breadth, as well as a specialised diet in ants, termites, and mites, which reinforces the hypotheses of close association between Acari consumption and the presence of skin toxic alkaloids, already found in other species of Dendrobatidae. Although differences in prey consumption between sexes are uncommon among poisonous frogs, differences in the diet composition between age classes, which probably reduce intraspecific competition, are frequently reported.

scholarly journals Morphology and stable isotope analysis demonstrate different structuring of bat communities in rainforest and savannah habitats

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (12) ◽  
pp. 180849 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ara Monadjem ◽  
Adam Kane ◽  
Peter Taylor ◽  
Leigh R. Richards ◽  
Grant Hall ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Stable Isotope Analysis ◽  
Niche Breadth ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Species Packing ◽  
Dietary Niche ◽  
The One ◽  
Ellipse Area

Bats play important ecological roles in tropical systems, yet how these communities are structured is still poorly understood. Our study explores the structure of African bat communities using morphological characters to define the morphospace occupied by these bats and stable isotope analysis to define their dietary niche breadth. We compared two communities, one in rainforest (Liberia) and one in savannah (South Africa), and asked whether the greater richness in the rainforest was due to more species ‘packing’ into the same morphospace and trophic space than bats from the savannah, or some other arrangement. In the rainforest, bats occupied a larger area in morphospace and species packing was higher than in the savannah; although this difference disappeared when comparing insectivorous bats only. There were also differences in morphospace occupied by different foraging groups (aerial, edge, clutter and fruitbat). Stable isotope analysis revealed that the range of δ 13 C values was almost double in rainforest than in savannah indicating a greater range of utilization of basal C 3 and C 4 resources in the former site, covering primary productivity from both these sources. The ranges in δ 15 N, however, were similar between the two habitats suggesting a similar number of trophic levels. Niche breadth, as defined by either standard ellipse area or convex hull, was greater for the bat community in rainforest than in savannah, with all four foraging groups having larger niche breadths in the former than the latter. The higher inter-species morphospace and niche breadth in forest bats suggest that species packing is not necessarily competitive. By employing morphometrics and stable isotope analysis, we have shown that the rainforest bat community packs more species in morphospace and uses a larger niche breadth than the one in savannah.

The influence of food availability, quality and body size on patch selection of coexisting grazer ungulates in western Serengeti National Park

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 54 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Bukombe ◽  
Andrew Kittle ◽  
Ramadhan B. Senzota ◽  
Hamza Kija ◽  
Simon Mduma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Niche Overlap ◽  
Wildlife Habitat ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Patch Selection ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Serengeti Ecosystem ◽  
Dietary Niche

Context Differences in body size and mouth morphologies influence dietary resource separation among savanna ungulates, and this influences their distribution across landscape. Aim The aim was to understand the influence of body size and mouth morphology differences on both diet and patch selection by ungulate species in western Serengeti. Two hypotheses were tested: (1) for ungulate species, the relative body sizes and muzzle widths (mean muzzle width range: 3.1- 9.85) relate directly to food biomass, and to quality of diets selected in the wet season when food is abundant; (2) in the wet season, if food is not limiting, similar-sized species should exhibit greater dietary niche overlap than ungulate species that differ greatly in body size and muzzle width; moreover, similar-sized species exhibit less dietary niche overlap than ungulate species that differ greatly in body size. Methods In the western Serengeti ecosystem, road transects and direct observation were used to obtain data on the distribution and diet of five ungulate species namely buffalo, zebra, wildebeest, topi and impala; which have of varying sizes (range: 70–630kg) feeding in three different vegetation types. Grassland biomass, structure, nutrient content and ungulate use were measured at sites along transects. Key Results Results indicated that large-bodied ungulates utilised patches of greater food abundance compared with those of smaller ungulates. Body mass was also negatively correlated with diet quality, so that smaller animals ate higher protein and lower-fibre foods, as predicted. Diet niche overlap (niche similarity) showed a strong positive relationship with body mass differences among ungulate species, in support of the second of the two predictions from this hypothesis, namely that dissimilarly sized species could eat the same food. Conclusion Overall, the results suggest that in this savanna system, variation in ungulate body size influences resource separation even in the food-abundant wet season, and that this helps multiple species to co-exist. Implications Implementing more focused conservation strategies will improve wildlife habitat quality by integrating fire as a forage management tool with grazing preferences to promote forage heterogeneity in protected areas.

scholarly journals Diet Composition and Feeding Strategies of the Stone Marten (Martes foina) in a Typical Mediterranean Ecosystem

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitrios E. Bakaloudis ◽  
Christos G. Vlachos ◽  
Malamati A. Papakosta ◽  
Vasileios A. Bontzorlos ◽  
Evangelos N. Chatzinikos
Keyword(s):  
Diet Composition ◽  
Niche Breadth ◽  
Interference Competition ◽  
Mediterranean Ecosystem ◽  
Feeding Strategies ◽  
Stone Marten ◽  
Martes Foina ◽  
Dietary Niche ◽  
Individual Specialisation ◽  
The Individual

Stone martens (Martes foina) are documented as generalist throughout their distributional range whose diet composition is affected by food availability. We tested if this occurs and what feeding strategies it follows in a typical Mediterranean ecosystem in Central Greece by analysing contents from 106 stomachs, seasonally collected from three different habitats during 2003–2006. Seasonal variation in diet and feeding strategies was evident and linked to seasonal nutritional requirements, but possibly imposed by strong interference competition and intraguild predation. Fleshy fruits and arthropods predominated in the diet, but also mammals and birds were frequently consumed. An overall low dietary niche breadth (BA=0.128) indicated a fruit specialization tendency. A generalised diet occurred in spring with high individual specialisation, whereas more animal-type prey was consumed than fruits. A population specialization towards fruits was indicated during summer and autumn, whereas insects were consumed occasionally by males. In those seasons it switched to more clumped food types such as fruits and insects. In winter it selectively exploited both adult and larvae insects and partially fruits overwinter on plants. The tendency to consume particular prey items seasonally reflected both the population specialist behaviour and the individual flexibility preyed on different food resources.

scholarly journals Drought but not population density influences dietary niche breadth in white-tailed deer in a semiarid environment

Ecosphere ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (12) ◽  
pp. art162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald J. Folks ◽  
Kory Gann ◽  
Timothy E. Fulbright ◽  
David G. Hewitt ◽  
Charles A. DeYoung ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Population Density ◽  
Niche Breadth ◽  
Semiarid Environment ◽  
Dietary Niche
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