scholarly journals Use of DNA metabarcoding of bird pellets in understanding raptor diet on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau of China

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte E. Hacker ◽  
Brandon D. Hoenig ◽  
Liji Wu ◽  
Wei Cong ◽  
Jingjing Yu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Niche Partitioning ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Diet Analysis ◽  
Sample Type ◽  
Plateau Pika ◽  
Dna Metabarcoding ◽  
Eagle Owl ◽  
Dietary Niche ◽  
Saker Falcon ◽  
Expected Values

Abstract Background Diet analysis is essential to understanding the functional role of large bird species in food webs. Morphological analysis of regurgitated bird pellet contents is time intensive and may underestimate biodiversity. DNA metabarcoding has the ability to circumvent these issues, but has yet to be done. Methods We present a pilot study using DNA metabarcoding of MT-RNR1 and MT-CO1 markers to determine the species of origin and prey of 45 pellets collected in Qinghai and Gansu Provinces, China. Results We detected four raptor species [Eurasian Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo), Saker Falcon (Falco cherrug), Steppe Eagle (Aquila nipalensis), and Upland Buzzard (Buteo hemilasius)] and 11 unique prey species across 10 families and 4 classes. Mammals were the greatest detected prey class with Plateau Pika (Ochotona curzoniae) being the most frequent. Observed Shannon’s and Simpson’s diversity for Upland Buzzard were 1.089 and 0.479, respectively, while expected values were 1.312 ± 0.266 and 0.485 ± 0.086. For Eurasian Eagle Owl, observed values were 1.202 and 0.565, while expected values were 1.502 ± 0.340 and 0.580 ± 0.114. Interspecific dietary niche partitioning between the two species was not detected. Conclusions Our results demonstrate successful use of DNA metabarcoding for understanding diet via a novel noninvasive sample type to identify common and uncommon species. More work is needed to understand how raptor diets vary locally, and the mechanisms that enable exploitation of similar dietary resources. This approach has wide ranging applicability to other birds of prey, and demonstrates the power of using DNA metabarcoding to study species noninvasively.

Metabarcoding demonstrates dietary niche partitioning in two coexisting blackfish species

2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (4) ◽  
pp. 512
Author(s):  
Gavin N. Rees ◽  
Michael E. Shackleton ◽  
Garth O. Watson ◽  
Georgia K. Dwyer ◽  
Rick J. Stoffels
Keyword(s):  
Fish Species ◽  
Niche Partitioning ◽  
Significant Degree ◽  
Frequency Of Occurrence ◽  
Dietary Analysis ◽  
Terrestrial Invertebrates ◽  
Dna Metabarcoding ◽  
Total Diet ◽  
Dietary Niche

A problem for fisheries ecologists who carry out dietary analysis on their specimens is dealing with contents that are difficult to identify, particularly when the contents comprise digested prey. We used a DNA metabarcoding approach to determine the diets of two co-occurring black fish species (Gadopsis bispinosus and Gadopsis marmoratus) to circumvent any issues with trying to apply microscopic methods to identify diets. We examined the frequency of occurrence of taxa across all specimens and the proportion that taxa contributed to total diet. In this way we hoped to demonstrate that a DNA-based method could resolve dietary differences of coexisting taxa. We showed that 10 macroinvertebrate taxa dominated the diets of both species and, of these, 7 occurred in all specimens of both taxa, indicating they were an important component of the diet of both species. Twelve taxa were present only in the G. bispinosus diet and four of those were terrestrial invertebrates; six taxa were found only in G. marmoratus. Our DNA-based approach to examine the taxa in the guts of two co-existing Gadopsis species provided sufficient resolution to show a significant degree of dietary partitioning.

scholarly journals DNA metabarcoding illuminates dietary niche partitioning by African large herbivores

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (26) ◽  
pp. 8019-8024 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyler R. Kartzinel ◽  
Patricia A. Chen ◽  
Tyler C. Coverdale ◽  
David L. Erickson ◽  
W. John Kress ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Coexistence ◽  
Niche Partitioning ◽  
Diet Breadth ◽  
Quantitative Information ◽  
Large Herbivores ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Dna Metabarcoding ◽  
Dietary Niche ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
Even Pairs

Niche partitioning facilitates species coexistence in a world of limited resources, thereby enriching biodiversity. For decades, biologists have sought to understand how diverse assemblages of large mammalian herbivores (LMH) partition food resources. Several complementary mechanisms have been identified, including differential consumption of grasses versus nongrasses and spatiotemporal stratification in use of different parts of the same plant. However, the extent to which LMH partition food-plant species is largely unknown because comprehensive species-level identification is prohibitively difficult with traditional methods. We used DNA metabarcoding to quantify diet breadth, composition, and overlap for seven abundant LMH species (six wild, one domestic) in semiarid African savanna. These species ranged from almost-exclusive grazers to almost-exclusive browsers: Grass consumption inferred from mean sequence relative read abundance (RRA) ranged from >99% (plains zebra) to <1% (dik-dik). Grass RRA was highly correlated with isotopic estimates of % grass consumption, indicating that RRA conveys reliable quantitative information about consumption. Dietary overlap was greatest between species that were similar in body size and proportional grass consumption. Nonetheless, diet composition differed between all species—even pairs of grazers matched in size, digestive physiology, and location—and dietary similarity was sometimes greater across grazing and browsing guilds than within them. Such taxonomically fine-grained diet partitioning suggests that coarse trophic categorizations may generate misleading conclusions about competition and coexistence in LMH assemblages, and that LMH diversity may be more tightly linked to plant diversity than is currently recognized.

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.

Niche partitioning among mule deer, elk, and cattle: Do stable isotopes reflect dietary niche?

Ecoscience ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 297-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelley M. Stewart ◽  
R. Terry Bowyer ◽  
John Kie ◽  
Brian L. Dick ◽  
Merav Ben-David
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotopes ◽  
Mule Deer ◽  
Niche Partitioning ◽  
Dietary Niche

scholarly journals Dietary niche partitioning by sympatricPeromyscus boyliiandP. californicusin a mixed evergreen forest

2013 ◽  
Vol 94 (6) ◽  
pp. 1248-1257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel E. B. Reid ◽  
Eli N. Greenwald ◽  
Yiwei Wang ◽  
Christopher C. Wilmers
Keyword(s):  
Niche Partitioning ◽  
Evergreen Forest ◽  
Dietary Niche

scholarly journals Dietary niche partitioning between sympatric wood mouse species (Muridae: Apodemus) revealed by DNA meta-barcoding analysis

2018 ◽  
Vol 99 (4) ◽  
pp. 952-964 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun J Sato ◽  
Takuya Shimada ◽  
Daisuke Kyogoku ◽  
Taketo Komura ◽  
Shigeru Uemura ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Niche Partitioning ◽  
Wood Mouse ◽  
Dietary Niche ◽  
Mouse Species

scholarly journals Three-dimensional computer simulations of feeding behaviour in red and giant pandas relate skull biomechanics with dietary niche partitioning

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 20140196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Borja Figueirido ◽  
Zhijie Jack Tseng ◽  
Francisco J. Serrano-Alarcón ◽  
Alberto Martín-Serra ◽  
Juan F. Pastor
Keyword(s):  
Niche Partitioning ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Mechanical Efficiency ◽  
Ailuropoda Melanoleuca ◽  
Stress Distributions ◽  
Foraging Mode ◽  
Element Analysis ◽  
Giant Pandas ◽  
Energy Profiles ◽  
Dietary Niche

The red ( Ailurus fulgens ) and giant ( Ailuropoda melanoleuca ) pandas are mammalian carnivores convergently adapted to a bamboo feeding diet. However, whereas Ailurus forages almost entirely on younger leaves, fruits and tender trunks, Ailuropoda relies more on trunks and stems. Such difference in foraging mode is considered a strategy for resource partitioning where they are sympatric. Here, we use finite-element analysis to test for mechanical differences and similarities in skull performance between Ailurus and Ailuropoda related to diet. Feeding simulations suggest that the two panda species have similar ranges of mechanical efficiency and strain energy profiles across the dentition, reflecting their durophagous diet. However, the stress distributions and peaks in the skulls of Ailurus and Ailuropoda are remarkably different for biting at all tooth locations. Although the skull of Ailuropoda is capable of resisting higher stresses than the skull of Ailurus , the latter is able to distribute stresses more evenly throughout the skull. These differences in skull biomechanics reflect their distinct bamboo feeding preferences. Ailurus uses repetitive chewing in an extended mastication to feed on soft leaves, and Ailuropoda exhibits shorter and more discrete periods of chomp-and-swallow feeding to break down hard bamboo trunks.

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