scholarly journals Can mandible morphology help predict feeding habits in Antarctic amphipods?

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 496-507
Author(s):  
Loïc N. Michel ◽  
Fabienne L. Nyssen ◽  
Patrick Dauby ◽  
Marie Verheye
Keyword(s):  
Functional Groups ◽  
Trophic Ecology ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Gut Contents ◽  
Ecological Niches ◽  
Feeding Strategies ◽  
Generalist Predators ◽  
Dietary Specialization ◽  
Important Place ◽  
Antarctic Amphipod

AbstractIn Antarctica, amphipods form a highly diverse group, occupy many different ecological niches and hold an important place in food webs. Here, we aimed to test whether differences in Antarctic amphipod feeding habits were reflected in their mandible morphology, and if mouthpart specialization could be used to describe amphipod trophic ecology. To do so, we compared mandible morphology in nine species spanning seven families and five functional groups (grazers, suspension feeders, generalist predators, specialist predators and scavengers). Mandible morphology adequately depicted some aspects of amphipod trophic ecology, such as the trophic level at which animals feed or their degree of dietary specialization. On the other hand, links between mandible morphology and amphipod diet were seldom unambiguous or straightforward. Similar adaptations were found in distinct functional groups. Conversely, mandible morphology could vary within a single functional group, and phylogenetic effects sometimes complicated the interpretation of form-function relationships. Overall, mandible morphology on its own was generally not sufficient to precisely predict amphipod feeding strategies. However, when combined with other methods (e.g. gut contents, trophic markers), it constitutes a valuable source of information for integrative studies of amphipod ecological diversity in the Southern Ocean.

scholarly journals First gut contents in a Cretaceous sea turtle

2005 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin P Kear
Keyword(s):  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Sea Turtles ◽  
Sea Turtle ◽  
Benthic Invertebrate ◽  
The Body ◽  
Gut Contents ◽  
Feeding Strategies ◽  
Shell Fragments ◽  
Correct Size

Modern sea turtles utilize a variety of feeding strategies ranging from herbivory to omnivory. In contrast, the diets of fossil sea turtles are poorly known. This study reports the first direct evidence: inoceramid bivalve shell pieces (encased in phosphatic material) preserved within the body cavities of several small protostegid turtles (cf. Notochelone ) from the Lower Cretaceous of Australia. The shell fragments are densely packed and approximately 5–20 mm across. Identical shell accumulations have been found within coprolite masses from the same deposits; these are of a correct size to have originated from Notochelone , and indicate that benthic molluscs were regular food items. The thin, flexible inoceramid shells (composed of organic material integrated into a prismatic calcite framework) appear to have been bitten into segments and ingested, presumably in conjunction with visceral/mantle tissues and encrusting organisms. Although protostegids have been elsewhere interpreted as potential molluscivores, their primitive limb morphology is thought to have limited them to surface feeding. However, the evidence here that at least some forms were able to utilize benthic invertebrate prey indicates that, like modern sea turtles, protostegids probably exhibited a much broader range of feeding habits.

scholarly journals Rainy Season Food Availability for Anurans of Kimboza Forest Reserve, Tanzania

2021 ◽  
pp. 15-25
Author(s):  
Nsajigwa Emmanuel Mbije ◽  
Asha Kamungu
Keyword(s):  
Food Availability ◽  
Rainy Season ◽  
Diet Composition ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Gut Contents ◽  
Generalist Predators ◽  
Forest Reserve ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
To Come ◽  
Prey Items

Amphibians are mostly considered to be generalist predators. Some species have a narrow diet or even specialize on certain prey categories. An assessment of the feeding habits of anuran species of Kimboza forest reserve, Tanzania was conducted during rainy season between March 2017 and June 2017. Through a visual encounter survey, 93 species were captured and analyzed for gut contents. About 462 prey items were identified the most abundant component being Isoptera and Hymenoptera. There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in the anurans’ diet (composition or diversity or preferences) among different habitats of the forest (along boundaries and within the forest) but significant difference (P < 0.05) was found between the upper Stratum and the lower Stratum of the forest. The study provides a preliminary estimation of the actual diet of anurans and establishes a general feeding pattern for these species for the management of the Kimboza forest reserve. The study recommends the intensification of similar assessments in the nearby forest areas to come up with a complete description of the feeding habits for management purposes.

Feeding ecology of Symbolophorus californiensis larvae (Teleostei: Myctophidae) in the southern transition region of the western North Pacific

2009 ◽  
Vol 90 (6) ◽  
pp. 1249-1256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiyuki Sassa
Keyword(s):  
Transition Region ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
Western North Pacific ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Larval Growth ◽  
Trophic Niche ◽  
Size Class ◽  
Gut Contents ◽  
Wide Range

The feeding habits of myctophid larvae of Symbolophorus californiensis were examined in the southern transition region of the western North Pacific where the main spawning and nursery grounds of S. californiensis are formed. This species is a key component of the pelagic ecosystems of this region, and their larvae attain one of the largest sizes among myctophids. To analyse gut contents larvae, including most life history stages after yolk-sac absorption (3.7 to 22.2 mm body length (BL)), were collected in the upper 100 m layer in 1997 and 1998. Feeding incidence was higher during the day than at night (53.1–92.3% versus 0–5.6%), and daytime feeding incidence increased gradually with larval growth. Larvae fed mainly on copepods of various developmental stages. Larvae of S. californiensis showed an ontogenetic change in their diet: larvae ≤7.9 mm BL (i.e. preflexion stage) fed mainly on copepod eggs and nauplii, while the larvae ≥8 mm BL consumed mainly calanoid copepodites such as Pseudocalanus and Paracalanus spp. In the largest size-class (16–22.2 mm BL), the furcilia stage of euphausiids was also an important prey item. There was an increase in the average prey size with growth in larvae ≤11.9 mm BL, while the number of prey eaten positively correlated with growth in larvae ≥12 mm BL. The trophic niche breadth also increased with larval growth, which would ensure a wide range of available food resources for the larger size-class larvae.

scholarly journals Ancestors of domestic cats in Neolithic Central Europe: Isotopic evidence of a synanthropic diet

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (30) ◽  
pp. 17710-17719 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magdalena Krajcarz ◽  
Maciej T. Krajcarz ◽  
Mateusz Baca ◽  
Chris Baumann ◽  
Wim Van Neer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Central Europe ◽  
Trophic Ecology ◽  
Niche Partitioning ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Isotopic Signature ◽  
Ecological Niches ◽  
Agricultural Activity ◽  
Domestic Cats ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Early Farmers

Cat remains from Poland dated to 4,200 to 2,300 y BCE are currently the earliest evidence for the migration of the Near Eastern cat (NE cat), the ancestor of domestic cats, into Central Europe. This early immigration preceded the known establishment of housecat populations in the region by around 3,000 y. One hypothesis assumed that NE cats followed the migration of early farmers as synanthropes. In this study, we analyze the stable isotopes in six samples of Late Neolithic NE cat bones and further 34 of the associated fauna, including the European wildcat. We approximate the diet and trophic ecology of Late Neolithic felids in a broad context of contemporary wild and domestic animals and humans. In addition, we compared the ecology of Late Neolithic NE cats with the earliest domestic cats known from the territory of Poland, dating to the Roman Period. Our results reveal that human agricultural activity during the Late Neolithic had already impacted the isotopic signature of rodents in the ecosystem. These synanthropic pests constituted a significant proportion of the NE cat’s diet. Our interpretation is that Late Neolithic NE cats were opportunistic synanthropes, most probably free-living individuals (i.e., not directly relying on a human food supply). We explore niche partitioning between studied NE cats and the contemporary native European wildcats. We find only minor differences between the isotopic ecology of both these taxa. We conclude that, after the appearance of the NE cat, both felid taxa shared the ecological niches.

Trophic ecology and diet of Hydra vulgaris (Cnidaria; Hydrozoa)

2017 ◽  
Vol 67 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 287-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
María I. Deserti ◽  
Karina S. Esquius ◽  
Alicia H. Escalante ◽  
Fabián H. Acuña
Keyword(s):  
Nutritional Value ◽  
Trophic Ecology ◽  
Buenos Aires ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Buenos Aires Province ◽  
Hydra Vulgaris ◽  
Natural Diet ◽  
Food Items ◽  
Invertebrate Prey

Hydra is a genus of common, sessile, solitary freshwater cnidarians, which are defined as carnivorous and efficient predators. The purpose of this study was to obtain information on the feeding habits and diet of Hydra vulgaris collected from its natural habitat in Nahuel Rucá Lake (Buenos Aires Province, Argentina). We found three categories of food items in the coelenteron: algae, fungi, and small invertebrates. Algae dominated the diet in terms of abundance and frequency of occurrence, but their volumetric contribution was almost negligible, as was their possible nutritional value. Invertebrate prey captured, using active predation, represented the major volumetric contribution, with four different taxa found. The detection of phytoplankton in the gastral cavities reveals the input of some organisms present in the surrounding waters in addition to the invertebrates. This information is novel, since studies on the natural diet of Hydra are very scarce.

scholarly journals Phytoplankton assemblages in Lake Orta: has functional structure recovered in one of the largest acidic lakes in the world?

2016 ◽  
Vol 75 (s2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Morabito
Keyword(s):  
Functional Groups ◽  
Diversity Indices ◽  
Taxonomic Composition ◽  
Ecological Niches ◽  
Phytoplankton Species ◽  
Phytoplankton Assemblages ◽  
Lake Maggiore ◽  
Acidic Lakes ◽  
Physical Features ◽  
She Analysis

Lake Orta (Northern Italy) became one of the world’s largest acidic lakes, following industrial pollution, beginning in the late 1920s. Prior to pollution, Lake Orta supported a rich and diversified phytoplankton community dominated by diatoms, cyanobacteria and dinoflagellates. Their taxonomic composition was comparable to that of the nearby Lake Maggiore, which provides a useful reference comparison. After pollution, Lake Orta was so acidic and contaminated with trace metals that only a few tolerant phytoplankton species persisted, supplemented by sudden and short living outbursts of occasional colonists. The lake was limed in 1989-1990. This has permitted the gradual recovery of its chemistry and biology, and many phytoplankton species that inhabit Lake Maggiore are now re-appearing in Lake Orta. I tested the two hypotheses that Lakes Orta and Maggiore would now have a similar phytoplankton taxonomic assemblages, and similar diversity of functional groups given their similar morphometry, physical features and trophic states. The two hypotheses were tested by comparing the phytoplankton assemblages of lakes Maggiore and Orta for the first 10 years after liming, i.e. 1990 to 2001. Phytoplankton was classified according the Reynolds' Morpho Functional Groups and five diversity indices were calculated (<em>S</em>, number of units; <em>H</em>, Shannon-Wiener; <em>E</em>, evenness; <em>D</em>, dominance; <em>J</em>, equitability). SHE analysis (an analysis of diversity changes based on the relationship among species richness (S), H Index (H) and evenness (E)) was also carried out, in order to compare the long term trend of both functional groups and taxa biodiversity. Both taxonomic and the functional composition differed in the two lakes, likely because chemical quality have played a role in <em>taxa</em>selection. Moreover, it was quite clear that, during the first post-liming decade, Lake Orta’s phytoplankton was characterized by low diversity and evenness and by marked year-to-year fluctuations. However, SHE analysis showed that the colonization rate was higher in Lake Orta than in Lake Maggiore, and that the environmental modifications caused by the liming were opening new ecological niches, allowing some colonists to thrive in the changing, albeit still unusual chemical environment of the lake.<p> </p>

scholarly journals MEDITERATRI project - assessing the trophic ecology of predatory arthropods in Mediterranean agriculture via DNA metabarcoding diet analyses

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucija Šerić Jelaska ◽  
Barbara Anđelić ◽  
Mišel Jelić ◽  
Tomislav Kos
Keyword(s):  
Pest Management ◽  
Trophic Ecology ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
Carabid Beetles ◽  
Diet Analysis ◽  
Gut Contents ◽  
Dna Metabarcoding ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Diet Analyses ◽  
Predatory Arthropods

A type of management and the use of pesticides in arable land may negatively affect a range of soil biota and thus their food webs important for ecosystem functioning. By analysing trophic interactions we could reveal the extent of potential benefits that certain organisms can provide in biocontrol and maintaining healthy ecosystems. To evaluate the role of predatory arthropods within olive orchards and vineyards under Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Ecological Pest Management (EPM) we collected carabid beetles together with other dominant predatory arthropods in the field (e.g. ladybugs, antlions, spiders, centipedes) and subdued the individuals to molecular gut content analyses using NGS. DNA metabarcoding diet analysis approach allowed detecting a wide variety of taxa from gut contents of the predators. In addition, using ICP-MS and LC-MS/MS we quantified Cu, pesticides and its residues in soil and animals representing different trophic guilds. Since concentrations of some toxic compounds detected in carabids body were negatively correlated with those in the soil, we aim to identify a potential vector for possible transfer of toxicants to general predators via predation. The results contribute to the risk assessment of proliferation of detected chemical compounds including copper in the ecosystem and to the knowledge on the overall field sustainability of predatory invertebrates to maximize their role in pest control. The study was conducted under the project activity of HRZZ – Mediteratri.

scholarly journals Hábitos alimentarios de quironómidos (Diptera: Chironomidae) en lagos del páramo de Chingaza, Colombia

2017 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yulibey Caleño Ruiz ◽  
Carlos Alberto Rivera Rondon ◽  
Hernando Ovalle
Keyword(s):  
Dietary Habits ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Diet Overlap ◽  
Gut Contents ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Trophic Guilds ◽  
Use Of Resources ◽  
Fine Particulate ◽  
Chironomidae Larvae ◽  
Well Differentiated

Tropical high mountain lakes show unique environmental conditions where chironomids play an important role in ecosystem functioning. The characteristics of these environments could favor diet overlap and therefore a high interspecific competition. This study described the dietary habits of chironomid genera, identified whether the dietary habits were specialized or generalist, and analyzed the diet overlap in the genera. Chironomidae larvae were collected from four lakes of the Chingaza paramo during the dry season, between April and May of 2 016. The feeding habits of larvae were evaluated by analyzing gut contents following standard methods. Each genus was assigned to trophic guilds (carnivore, detritivore and algivore) and the diet overlap was estimated using the Pinka's index. A total of 1 003 individuals were collected and nine genera were identified. Larvae consumed mainly fine particulate organic matter (FPOM), algae, macrophyte fragments, macroinvertebrates, and animal tissues. FPOM was the main feeding resource of detritivores. The analysis of diets showed a high affinity of each genus for a single trophic guild and most of the genera were generalist in the use of resources. For all lakes, high levels of diet overlap were observed among genera and trophic guilds, mainly among detritivores. Our results suggested that Chironomidae larvae of these lakes presented well differentiated trophic habits, and showed a moderate diet overlap within detritivores and carnivores.

scholarly journals Resource partitioning and ecomorphological variation in two syntopic species of Lebiasinidae (Characiformes) in an Amazonian stream

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathália Carina dos Santos SILVA ◽  
Aluízio José Lopes da COSTA ◽  
José LOUVISE ◽  
Bruno Eleres SOARES ◽  
Vanessa Cristine e Souza REIS ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Resource Partitioning ◽  
Trophic Ecology ◽  
Species Coexistence ◽  
Stomach Contents ◽  
Relative Length ◽  
Niche Overlap ◽  
The Body ◽  
Feeding Strategies ◽  
Relative Depth ◽  
Feeding Niche

ABSTRACTResource partitioning is important for species coexistence. Species with similar ecomorphology are potential competitors, especially when phylogenetically close, due to niche conservatism. The aim of this study was to investigate the resource partitioning among populations of two species of lebiasinids (Copella nigrofasciata and Pyrrhulina aff. brevis) that co-occur in a first-order Amazonian stream, analyzing the trophic ecology, feeding strategies and ecomorphological attributes related to the use of food and space by these species. Fish were captured in May and September 2010. The stomach contents of 60 individuals were analyzed and quantified volumetrically to characterize the feeding ecology of both species. Eleven morphological attributes were measured in 20 specimens and combined in nine ecomorphological indices. Both species had an omnivorous-invertivorous diet and consumed predominantly allochthonous items. Both showed a tendency to a generalist diet, but intrapopulational variation in resource use was also detected. Overall feeding niche overlap was high, but differed between seasons: low during the rainy season and high in the dry season. In the latter, the food niche overlap was asymmetric because C. nigrofasciata consumed several prey of P. aff. brevis, which reduced its food spectrum. The ecomorphological analysis suggests that C. nigrofasciatahas greater swimming capacity (greater relative length of caudal peduncle) than P. aff. brevis, which has greater maneuverability and tendency to inhabit lentic environments (greater relative depth of the body). Our results demonstrate that these species have similar trophic ecology and suggest a spatial segregation, given by morphological differences related to locomotion and occupation of habitat, favoring their coexistence.

scholarly journals Eastern Coyotes (Canis latrans var.) consuming large ungulates in a multi-ungulate system

2020 ◽  
Vol 134 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-51
Author(s):  
Juliana Balluffi-Fry ◽  
Liane B. Nowell ◽  
Murray M. Humphries
Keyword(s):  
Prey Species ◽  
Canis Latrans ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Castor Canadensis ◽  
Generalist Predators ◽  
Generalist Predator ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Game Reserve ◽  
Varied Diet ◽  
American Beaver

The feeding habits of generalist predators often vary among populations and regions. For example, Coyote (Canis latrans), which is a generalist predator distributed across North America, occupies a wide range of habitats and has a highly varied diet. In this observational study, we quantified the presence of mammalian prey items in 50 Eastern Coyote (Canis latrans var.) scats collected in late spring and summer in a private game reserve in southwestern Quebec. Nearly all scats contained hair of White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus; 44%), Moose (Alces americanus; 38%), or American Beaver (Castor canadensis; 38%). Although all three species are known to be consumed by coyotes, such a high proportion of Moose and White-tailed Deer simultaneously occurring in the diet of coyotes has not been previously reported. The uniqueness of the study area, with its relatively high abundance of all three prey species, may account for the uniqueness of the diet of Eastern Coyotes living there.

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