scholarly journals Dietary analysis reveals differences in the prey use of two sympatric bat species

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Heim ◽  
Anna I. E. Puisto ◽  
Ilari Sääksjärvi ◽  
Dai Fukui ◽  
Eero J. Vesterinen
Keyword(s):  
2021 ◽  
Vol 168 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Josie L. Palmer ◽  
Damla Beton ◽  
Burak A. Çiçek ◽  
Sophie Davey ◽  
Emily M. Duncan ◽  
...  

AbstractDietary studies provide key insights into threats and changes within ecosystems and subsequent impacts on focal species. Diet is particularly challenging to study within marine environments and therefore is often poorly understood. Here, we examined the diet of stranded and bycaught loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in North Cyprus (35.33° N, 33.47° E) between 2011 and 2019. A total of 129 taxa were recorded in the diet of loggerhead turtles (n = 45), which were predominantly carnivorous (on average 72.1% of dietary biomass), foraging on a large variety of invertebrates, macroalgae, seagrasses and bony fish in low frequencies. Despite this opportunistic foraging strategy, one species was particularly dominant, the sponge Chondrosia reniformis (21.5%). Consumption of this sponge decreased with increasing turtle size. A greater degree of herbivory was found in green turtles (n = 40) which predominantly consumed seagrasses and macroalgae (88.8%) with a total of 101 taxa recorded. The most dominant species was a Lessepsian invasive seagrass, Halophila stipulacea (31.1%). This is the highest percentage recorded for this species in green turtle diet in the Mediterranean thus far. With increasing turtle size, the percentage of seagrass consumed increased with a concomitant decrease in macroalgae. Seagrass was consumed year-round. Omnivory occurred in all green turtle size classes but reduced in larger turtles (> 75 cm CCL) suggesting a slow ontogenetic dietary shift. Macroplastic ingestion was more common in green (31.6% of individuals) than loggerhead turtles (5.7%). This study provides the most complete dietary list for marine turtles in the eastern Mediterranean.


2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Olweya Mohammed Abd El Baaki ◽  
Enas Raafat Abd El Hamid ◽  
Safaa Taha Zaki ◽  
Amani Salah El Din Alwakkad ◽  
Rania Nabil Sabry ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders, affects 5% of children worldwide and characterized by impaired inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. One of the risk factors that precipitate ADHD is food. Food affects behavior of children by different ways such as food allergy, food intolerance and gut–microbiota–brain axis. The study aimed to assess effect of diet modification on ADHD outcome and the role of food as a precipitating factor for ADHD symptomatology. The study included 47 children newly diagnosed with ADHD, not receiving medical or behavioral therapy, their ages ranged from 6 to 9 years and their intelligence quotient not below 70 with no associated comorbidities. All participants were subjected to Full history taking, clinical examination, anthropometric measurements, 24 h dietary recall. Dietary analysis and Conner’s parent rating scale-revised short form (CPR-RS) were done before and after diet modification program for 5 weeks. Results There was improvement in ADHD symptoms as measured by CPR-RS after 5-weeks of diet modification program. Carbohydrate and protein intake decreased significantly after diet modification program. Energy intake did not show statistical difference while fat intake increased significantly after the diet program. Vitamin A, C, riboflavin, thiamin and iron intakes decreased significantly after diet program but were within the recommended dietary allowance. Conclusion Following the Diet modification program, ADHD symptoms were improved as documented by decrease in CPR scores. Diminished carbohydrate and protein intake in diet were positively associated with improvement of ADHD symptoms. Diet modification program succeeded in reducing obesity and then ADHD symptoms.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-31
Author(s):  
Noor Rohmah Mayasari ◽  
Tzu-Yu Hu ◽  
Jane C-J Chao ◽  
Chyi-Huey Bai ◽  
Yi Chun Chen ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective: The coexistence of underweight (UW) and overweight (OW)/obese (OB) at the population level is known to affect iron-deficiency anemia (IDA), but how the weight status affects erythropoiesis during pregnancy is less clear at a population scale. This study investigated associations between the pre-pregnancy body mass index (pBMI) and erythropoiesis-related nutritional deficiencies. Design: Anthropometry, blood biochemistry, and 24-h dietary recall data were collected during prenatal care visits. The weight status was defined based on the pBMI. Mild nutrition deficiency-related erythropoiesis was defined if individuals had an ID, folate depletion, or a vitamin B12 deficiency. Setting: The Nationwide Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan (Pregnant NAHSIT 2017-2019). Participants: We included 1456 women aged 20 to 45 years with singleton pregnancies. Results: Among these pregnant women, 9.6% were UW, and 29.2% were either OW (15.8%) or OB (13.4%). A U-shaped association between the pBMI and IDA was observed, with decreased odds (OR; 95% CI) for OW subjects (0.6; 0.4˜0.9) but increased odds for UW (1.2; 0.8˜2.0) and OB subjects (1.2; 0.8˜1.8). The pBMI was positively correlated with the prevalence of a mild nutritional deficiency. Compared to normal weight (NW), OB pregnant women had 3.4-fold (3.4; 1.4˜8.1) higher odds for multiple mild nutritional deficiencies, while UW individuals had lowest odds (0.3; 0.1-1.2). A dietary analysis showed negative relationships of pBMI with energy, carbohydrates, protein, iron, and folate intakes, but positive relationship with fat intakes. Conclusion: The pre-pregnancy weight status can possibly serve as a good nutritional screening tool for preventing IDA during pregnancy.


2013 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 297-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gillian O'Loughlin ◽  
Sarah Jane Cullen ◽  
Adrian McGoldrick ◽  
Siobhan O'Connor ◽  
Richard Blain ◽  
...  

2007 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grant A. Harper

Burrowing seabirds are vulnerable to extirpation by introduced predators such as rats, but much evidence of predation is circumstantial. On Taukihepa, an island off southern New Zealand, two possible predators exist with sooty shearwaters (Puffinus griseus): the weka (Gallirallus australis), a large rail, and the ship rat (Rattus rattus), both introduced to the island. It was expected that chick predation would be principally by weka, the much larger of the two predators. To measure losses of sooty shearwater chicks to weka or rats, nests were monitored with burrow-scopes at six sites in the summers of 2003–04 and 2004–05. In three of the sites rats were removed on 4-ha grids by trapping. In the other three sites rats were not trapped. In addition, weka were removed from all six sites in 2005. Concurrent diet analysis of weka and rat stomachs was undertaken as well as stable isotopic analysis (δ13C, δ15N) of samples from rats and weka. These were compared with possible prey items including sooty shearwaters. Additional stable isotope samples were taken from Pacific rats (Rattus exulans), a small rat species present with weka and sooty shearwaters on nearby Moginui Island. Weka diet comprised ~40% of bird remains by volume and calculations using Isosource, an isotopic source portioning model, estimated sooty shearwaters contributed 59% (range: 15–71%) of weka diet during the sooty shearwater chick-raising period. Ship rats, in contrast, had very depleted δ13C isotope signatures compared with sooty shearwaters and bird remains contributed <9% of diet by volume, with Isosource calculations suggesting that ship rats consumed more passerine birds (mean: 30%; range 5–51%) than sooty shearwaters (mean 24%; range: 0–44%). In both summers, more chicks were lost on sites from which rats had been removed than on control sites. When weka were removed in 2005, fewer chicks were lost than in 2004 and significantly fewer weka-killed chicks were found on weka-removal sites than on non-removal sites. Weka were the principal predator of sooty shearwater chicks, depredating an estimated 9.9% of nests. Combining several techniques quantified the loss and identified the principal predator of a seabird in decline.


1986 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-75
Author(s):  
Gail C. Frank ◽  
Suzanne Pelican

Oecologia ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 120 (3) ◽  
pp. 386-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine P. Beaudoin ◽  
William M. Tonn ◽  
Ellie E. Prepas ◽  
Leonard I. Wassenaar

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