Food Niche Overlap of Two Iowa Marsh Icterids

In this study we investigated the group of floral resources that support bee populations from a bee assemblage in a savanna, and the way in which bee species use these food resources, with an emphasis on the breadth and overlap of trophic niches. The interactions between 75 species of bees and 62 species of plants visited to obtain floral resources were recorded on a Brazilian savanna site. The bee species explored a diverse set of plant species, but concentrated the collection of resources in a few plant species. The distribution of the samples over a long period favored a robust characterization of the food niche of the bee populations. Byrsonima sericea, Serjania faveolata, and Stigmaphyllon paralias were the plant species with the highest number of links with bees. In general, the trophic niche overlap was low, with 75% of pairs of bee species having a niche overlap (NO) less than 0.33. Only four pairs showed high overlap (NO>0.70) and all cases were related to the exploitation of floral resources provided by B. sericea, a key resource for the maintenance of the local bee fauna, an oil and pollen provider.

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Food Niche Overlap Among Neotropical Carpenter Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Xylocopini) in an Agricultural System

Sociobiology ◽

10.13102/sociobiology.v60i3.283-288 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 60 (3) ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Danielle Mendes Carvalho ◽

Candida Maria Lima Aguiar ◽

Gilberto Marcos MendonÃ§a Santos

Keyword(s):

Niche Overlap ◽

Agricultural System ◽

Carpenter Bees ◽

Food Niche

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Food niche overlap between sympatric potential competitors increases with habitat alteration at different trophic levels in rain-forest reptiles (omnivorous tortoises and carnivorous vipers)

Journal of Tropical Ecology ◽

10.1017/s0266467406003634 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 22 (6) ◽

pp. 695-704 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Luca Luiselli

Keyword(s):

Rain Forest ◽

Habitat Degradation ◽

Niche Overlap ◽

Independent Study ◽

Trophic Levels ◽

Habitat Alteration ◽

Forest Region ◽

Reptile Species ◽

Kinixys Erosa ◽

Food Niche

Comparisons of sympatric reptile species were used to assess the variation in niche overlap for food between potential competitors at different trophic levels. Omnivorous tortoises and carnivorous vipers inhabiting the rain-forest region of West Africa were used as study models. Food niche overlap between species increased with habitat alteration in both the independent study systems: tortoises (Kinixys homeana and Kinixys erosa) and vipers (Bitis gabonica and Bitis nasicornis) showed lower values of Pianka's niche overlap index in the pristine habitat than in the altered habitat, and these differences in overlap values did not depend on chance after Monte Carlo simulations. There were higher inter-habitat food niche overlaps within-species than between-species. Permutation tests (assessed after 5000 iterations) revealed that, for both study systems, the P-values became significantly smaller with fewer resource states, thus showing the niche overlap between species really increases after habitat alteration. The observed increases in food niche overlap between species accomplished with rain-forest habitat degradation in turn may be predicted to have cumulative effects on reducing the level of forest biodiversity.

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Food partitioning among flatfish (Pisces: Pleuronectiforms) juveniles in a Mediterranean coastal shallow sandy area

Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom ◽

10.1017/s0025315401003460 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 81 (1) ◽

pp. 119-127 ◽

Cited By ~ 54

Author(s):

A.M. Darnaude ◽

M.L. Harmelin-Vivien ◽

C. Salen-Picard

Keyword(s):

Food Preferences ◽

Niche Overlap ◽

Food Competition ◽

North West ◽

Flatfish Species ◽

Solea Solea ◽

Body Sizes ◽

Feeding Rhythms ◽

Food Partitioning ◽

Food Niche

Diets of the four main flatfish species, Arnoglossus laterna,Bothus podas (Bothidae), Buglossidium luteum and Solea solea (Soleidae), inhabiting shallow sandy bottoms near the Gulf of Fos (north-west Mediterranean) were analysed to elucidate food partitioning between their juveniles (1+ group) in nursery areas. The two Soleidae were principally active during the night, and the two Bothidae during the day. The four species all mainly fed on the three most abundant categories of prey in the area (polychaetes, molluscs and crustaceans) but showed different food preferences. Arnoglossus laterna and B. luteum mainly preyed on crustaceans and molluscs (gastropods and bivalves) whereas Bothus podas and S. solea preyed principally on polychaetes and bivalve molluscs. Food niche width was clearly higher in A. laterna and Buglossidiumluteum (13·3 and 14·2 respectively) than in Bothus podas and S. solea (3·2 and 3·6 respectively). Overall food niche overlaps (T) obtained for each pair of fish ranged from 0·33 to 0·58. Overlap was higher between species of the same family but did not reach a significant level. Food niche overlap differed according to the period of the day but did not show any important seasonal variation. Differences in feeding rhythms, food preferences and body sizes, reduced the direct food competition between the juveniles of the four flatfish species, allowing their coexistence within the same nursery zone, despite close periods of settlement.

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