Diet and trophic niche overlap of Boana bischoffi and Boana marginata (Anura: Hylidae) in southern Brazil

Abstract

The species Boana bischoffi and Boana marginata are endemic to the Atlantic Forest, where they often occur in sympatry. There is a large gap in the knowledge of natural history of both species. In this study, we aimed to describe and compare the diet composition of B. bischoffi and B. marginata in the southern domain of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. We analyzed the gastrointestinal contents of 43 individuals of B. bischoffi and 30 individuals of B. marginata. Both showed a high trophic niche overlap (0.90 O jk ). The most important prey categories for both species belonged to the orders Araneae and Coleoptera. The species niche breadth (Bsta) varied from 0.35 to 0.42, suggesting a generalist feeding behavior for both species. Our data provide unprecedented information on these species' food composition, contributing to a better knowledge of the natural history of neotropical anurans. Dieta e sobreposição de nicho trófico deBoana bischoffi e Boana marginata (Anura: Hylidae) no sul do Brasil Resumo: As espécies Boana bischoffi e Boana marginata, são endêmicas da Mata Atlântica onde frequentemente ocorrem em simpatria. Existe uma grande lacuna no conhecimento da história natural de ambas as espécies. Nesse estudo, nosso objetivo foi descrever e comparar a composição da dieta de B. bischoffi e B. marginata no limite sul da Mata Atlântica brasileira. Analisamos o conteúdo gastrointestinal de 43 indivíduos de B. bischoffi e 30 indivíduos de B. marginata. Ambas apresentaram elevada sobreposição de seus nichos tróficos (0,90 O jk ). As categorias de presas mais importantes para ambas as espécies pertenciam as ordens Araneae e Coleoptera. A amplitude de nicho das espécies (Bsta) variou de 0,35 a 0,42, sugerindo comportamento alimentar generalista para ambas. Nossos dados trazem informações inéditas sobre a composição alimentar destas espécies, contribuindo para um maior conhecimento da história natural dos anuros neotropicais.

Trade-Offs between Ecomorphology and Autoecology Enable the Coexistence of Tree Frogs (Hylidae: Boana spp.) during the Dry Season in an Atlantic Forest Area of Northeastern Brazil

“…This relationship did not follow the same pattern when their trophic niches were compared to that of B. faber, as the similarity in resource use was very low. Equivalent results were observed in the interaction between Boana bischoffi (Boulenger, 1887) and Boana marginata (Boulenger, 1887) in another area of the Atlantic Forest in Brazil, organisms that are morphologically similar and had a preference for same prey types (Moser et al, 2019). However, these species belong to the same phylogenetic group ( B. pulchellus group, see Faivovich et al, 2005; Dubois, 2017), which is different from the existing condition for B. albomarginata and B. pombali.…”

Diet and Habitat Use of Proceratophrys ararype (Anura: Odontophrynidae), an Endemic Frog from the Chapada do Araripe, Northeastern Brazil

“…The association between foraging mode and prey type does not always have a clear pattern (Ribeiro et al, 2015), since the variation in amphibian diet can be influenced by seasonal changes (Toft, 1980; Woolbright and Stewart, 1987), ontogeny (Lima and Moreira, 1993), prey availability (Galatti, 1992; Moreira and Barreto, 1996), or habitat type (De-Carvalho et al, 2008). However, in their study of the diet of Physalaemus lisei Braun and Braun, 1977, Moser et al (2017) raised the possibility that the availability of a certain prey in the environment could drive the consumption of this item, thus resulting in different categories of arthropods varying as the most important prey for each species in different locations (Coco et al, 2014).…”

How environmental factors affect the abundance and distribution of two congeneric species of Amazonian frogs

“…Due to similarities in resource use, competition is expected to be greater between phylogenetically close species and that this process will lead to congeneric species generally not occurring in sympatry (Violle et al., 2011; Webb et al., 2002). However, some studies have questioned this prediction, showing that in some groups, closely related species occur in sympatry (Gambale et al., 2020; Moser et al., 2018; Zainudin et al., 2017). Although niche overlap increases interspecific competition, competitive exclusion depends on species differences in fitness‐related traits (HilleRisLambers et al., 2012; Letten et al., 2017), and niche‐related and fitness‐related traits may not depend strongly on phylogenetic relatedness (Godoy et al., 2014).…”