scholarly journals Pollinator traits and competitive context shape dynamic foraging behavior in bee communities

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather M. Briggs ◽  
Berry J. Brosi
Keyword(s):  
Interspecific Competition ◽  
Foraging Behavior ◽  
Resource Use ◽  
Behavioral Plasticity ◽  
Interspecific Interactions ◽  
Reproductive Function ◽  
Site Variation ◽  
Predictive Understanding ◽  
Tongue Length ◽  
Context Shape

AbstractInterspecific interactions (e.g. competition) can dynamically shape individual and species-level resource use within communities. Understanding how interspecific competition between pollinators species shapes resource use is of particular interest because pollinator foraging behavior (“floral fidelity”) is directly linked to plant reproductive function through the movement of conspecific pollen. Through targeted species removals, this study aims to gain a predictive understanding of how interspecific competition can influence pollinator foraging behavior. We explore how traits—specifically pollinator tongue length, known to dictate pollinator resource partitioning—influence behavioral plasticity and drive dynamic interspecific interactions. Our results demonstrate that bee species vary in their floral fidelity and that tongue length explains a large part of this variation. Bees with shorter tongues move between plant species (floral infidelity) more often than bees with longer tongues. We did not find significant variation in the response of bee species to a reduction in interspecific competition, but rather saw a guild-wide reduction in floral fidelity in response to the removal of the dominant bee species Finally, our results suggest that tongue length of the most abundant bee species, a site-level attribute, explains much of the site-to-site variation in pollinator foraging behavior. In particular, we found that as the tongue length of the most abundant bee in the site increases, the site level foraging fidelity decreases. With global pollinator populations on the decline, novel interactions between plants and pollinators are likely to occur. Exploring how the competitive landscape shapes foraging plasticity will help us generalize to other plant pollinator systems and begin to better predict the functional implications of competitive interactions.

scholarly journals Context-dependent dynamics lead to the assembly of functionally distinct pitcher-plant microbiomes

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonora S. Bittleston ◽  
Matti Gralka ◽  
Gabriel E. Leventhal ◽  
Itzhak Mizrahi ◽  
Otto X. Cordero
Keyword(s):  
Resource Use ◽  
Bacterial Communities ◽  
Niche Construction ◽  
Interspecific Interactions ◽  
Sarracenia Purpurea ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Pitcher Plant ◽  
Respiration Rates ◽  
Active Debate ◽  
And Function

AbstractNiche construction through interspecific interactions can condition future community states on past ones. However, the extent to which such history dependency can steer communities towards functionally different states remains a subject of active debate. Using bacterial communities collected from wild pitchers of the carnivorous pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea, we tested the effects of history on composition and function across communities assembled in synthetic pitcher plant microcosms. We found that the diversity of assembled communities was determined by the diversity of the system at early, pre-assembly stages. Species composition was also contingent on early community states, not only because of differences in the species pool, but also because the same species had different dynamics in different community contexts. Importantly, compositional differences were proportional to differences in function, as profiles of resource use were strongly correlated with composition, despite convergence in respiration rates. Early differences in community structure can thus propagate to mature communities, conditioning their functional repertoire.

Interspecific Interactions II: Competition and Mutualism

2020 ◽  
pp. 67-84
Author(s):  
Michael J. Fogarty ◽  
Jeremy S. Collie
Keyword(s):  
Resource Use ◽  
Population Change ◽  
Interspecific Interactions ◽  
Competitive Interactions ◽  
Aquatic Environments ◽  
Biotic Interaction ◽  
Controlled Experiments ◽  
Aquatic Communities ◽  
Shared Resource ◽  
Differential Reduction

Competition and mutualism are important forms of biotic interaction in aquatic communities. Quantification of the population and community-level effects of these interactions has historically been less common in fisheries analyses than predation. In part, this reflects the difficulties in conducting controlled experiments for larger-bodied organisms in aquatic environments. Documenting competition entails not only identifying patterns of shared resource use but evidence that these resources are limiting. Inferences concerning competitive interactions in non-experimental settings may be possible if histories of population change for putative competitors are available and quantifiable interventions involving the addition of a species (through deliberate or inadvertent introductions) or a differential reduction in abundance of the species through harvesting is undertaken. Care must be taken to account for other changes in the environment in these uncontrolled quasi-experiments. Mutualistic interactions are widely recognized in aquatic ecosystems but far less commonly quantified than competition.

The effects of interspecific interactions on resource use and behavior in a desert ant

Oecologia ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 125 (3) ◽  
pp. 436-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan J. Sanders ◽  
Deborah M. Gordon
Keyword(s):  
Resource Use ◽  
Interspecific Interactions ◽  
Desert Ant ◽  
And Behavior

Starvation intensifies the impacts of interspecific interactions on foraging behavior of swimming crab (Portunus trituberculatus)

Aquaculture ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 504 ◽  
pp. 22-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dapeng Liu ◽  
Xianpeng Su ◽  
Fang Wang ◽  
Dasen Zhong ◽  
Yunfei Sun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Foraging Behavior ◽  
Interspecific Interactions ◽  
Portunus Trituberculatus ◽  
Swimming Crab

scholarly journals Human-modified landscapes alter mammal resource and habitat use and trophic structure

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (37) ◽  
pp. 18466-18472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcelo Magioli ◽  
Marcelo Zacharias Moreira ◽  
Renata Cristina Batista Fonseca ◽  
Milton Cezar Ribeiro ◽  
Márcia Gonçalves Rodrigues ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Resource Use ◽  
Trophic Structure ◽  
Behavioral Plasticity ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Hot Spot ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Agricultural Matrix ◽  
Forest Remnant ◽  
Significant Difference

The broad negative consequences of habitat degradation on biodiversity have been studied, but the complex effects of natural–agricultural landscape matrices remain poorly understood. Here we used stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes to detect changes in mammal resource and habitat use and trophic structure between preserved areas and human-modified landscapes (HMLs) in a biodiversity hot spot in South America. We classified mammals into trophic guilds and compared resource use (in terms of C3- and C4-derived carbon), isotopic niches, and trophic structure across the 2 systems. In HMLs, approximately one-third of individuals fed exclusively on items from the agricultural matrix (C4), while in preserved areas, ∼68% depended on forest remnant resources (C3). Herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores were the guilds that most incorporated C4carbon in HMLs. Frugivores maintained the same resource use between systems (C3resources), while insectivores showed no significant difference. All guilds in HMLs except insectivores presented larger isotopic niches than those in preserved areas. We observed a complex trophic structure in preserved areas, with increasing δ15N values from herbivores to insectivores and carnivores, differing from that in HMLs. This difference is partially explained by species loss and turnover and mainly by the behavioral plasticity of resilient species that use nitrogen-enriched food items. We concluded that the landscape cannot be seen as a habitat/nonhabitat dichotomy because the agricultural landscape matrix in HMLs provides mammal habitat and opportunities for food acquisition. Thus, favorable management of the agricultural matrix and slowing the conversion of forests to agriculture are important for conservation in this region.

Habitat and nest-site partitioning in splendid and variegated fairy-wrens (Aves : Maluridae)

1999 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Tibbetts ◽  
Stephen Pruett-Jones
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Habitat Use ◽  
Interspecific Competition ◽  
Similar Pattern ◽  
Foraging Behaviour ◽  
Nest Site ◽  
Interspecific Interactions ◽  
Territory Size ◽  
Sympatric Populations ◽  
Nest Placement

Territory size, interspecific interactions, foraging behaviour, habitat use, and nest placement were examined in sympatric populations of splendid (Malurus splendens melanotus) and variegated (M. lamberti assimilis) fairy-wrens. Although these species have similar patterns of life history and biology, they utilise different microhabitats within overlapping territories. Splendid fairy-wrens spent more time on the ground and in open areas, whereas variegated fairy-wrens generally preferred higher and more protected locations. The two species exhibited a similar pattern of separation with respect to foraging behaviour, as splendid fairy- wrens mainly foraged on the ground whereas variegated fairy-wrens preferred bushes. They also partitioned nesting habitat, with splendid fairy-wrens building nests in areas with a greater density of trees than variegated fairy-wrens. Further, splendid fairy-wrens built nests in larger shrubs and farther from the edge of these bushes than variegated fairy-wrens. We suggest that these differences in habitat use decrease interspecific competition between the two species.

Intra- and interspecific competition between biotypes B and Q of Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) from Spain

2004 ◽  
Vol 94 (4) ◽  
pp. 369-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Pascual ◽  
C. Callejas
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Interspecific Competition ◽  
Bemisia Tabaci ◽  
Interspecific Interactions ◽  
Developmental Rate ◽  
Mixed Cultures ◽  
Progeny Size ◽  
Moderate Effect ◽  
Single And Mixed Cultures ◽  
Biotype B

AbstractBiotypes B and Q of Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius), collected from the islands of Tenerife and Majorca respectively, were exposed to competition conditions on tomato cv. Marmande in the laboratory. Both biotypes were established in single and mixed cultures at different densities. Increased mortality of biotype Q females and immature instars was observed together with a lower rate of fecundity and progeny size compared to biotype B, when reared in single or mixed cultures. The female:male sex ratio of F1 individuals of biotype Q was higher in single than in mixed cultures. However, the sex ratio of F1 individuals of biotype B was the same in single and mixed cultures, suggesting reproductive interference. Whitefly density did not affect interspecific interactions. It had a moderate effect on developmental rate of both biotypes, and on mortality of immature instars and progeny size of biotype B only. The results indicate that under laboratory conditions the studied biotype B should displace biotype Q.

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