Resource partitioning by insectivorous bats in <scp>J</scp>amaica

Emrich, Matthew A.; Clare, Elizabeth L.; Symondson, William Oliver Christian; Koenig, Susan E.; Fenton, M. Brock

doi:10.1111/mec.12504

Cited by 72 publications

(96 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Such methods have recently been shown to offer high resolution in identifying the nodes of antagonistic interaction networks (30)(31)(32), and in pinpointing feeding associations among hosts and parasitoids (33)(34)(35)(36), plants and herbivores (37,38), and selected predators within larger food webs (39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44). Although resolving the modules of ecological interactions forms the basis for understanding larger interaction webs, no prior study has examined the extent to which these novel sources of information change our perception of emergent interaction structure.…”

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

Complementary molecular information changes our perception of food web structure

Wirta

Hebert

Kaartinen

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

145

202

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How networks of ecological interactions are structured has a major impact on their functioning. However, accurately resolving both the nodes of the webs and the links between them is fraught with difficulties. We ask whether the new resolution conferred by molecular information changes perceptions of network structure. To probe a network of antagonistic interactions in the High Arctic, we use two complementary sources of molecular data: parasitoid DNA sequenced from the tissues of their hosts and host DNA sequenced from the gut of adult parasitoids. The information added by molecular analysis radically changes the properties of interaction structure. Overall, three times as many interaction types were revealed by combining molecular information from parasitoids and hosts with rearing data, versus rearing data alone. At the species level, our results alter the perceived host specificity of parasitoids, the parasitoid load of host species, and the webwide role of predators with a cryptic lifestyle. As the northernmost network of host-parasitoid interactions quantified, our data point exerts high leverage on global comparisons of food web structure. However, how we view its structure will depend on what information we use: compared with variation among networks quantified at other sites, the properties of our web vary as much or much more depending on the techniques used to reconstruct it. We thus urge ecologists to combine multiple pieces of evidence in assessing the structure of interaction webs, and suggest that current perceptions of interaction structure may be strongly affected by the methods used to construct them.trophic interaction | Hymenoptera | Lepidoptera | DNA barcode H ow networks of ecological interactions are structured has major implications on how they function (1), how they react to external stressors (2, 3) and how they return to their original state after disturbance (4, 5). Quantitative descriptions of who interacts with whom (e.g., refs. 6 and 7) may then be used to formulate testable hypotheses for basic questions concerning, for example, the fundamental strength of indirect interactions (8, 9), or how a community will respond to invasive species, habitat modification, or climate change (e.g., refs. 10-14). In applied biology, quantifications of interaction structure have increasingly been used to examine the success of, for example, habitat restoration and management, the biological control of pests, and the conservation of biodiversity (6). Global comparisons of food web structure are underway, comparing the linking structure of local webs described from different latitudes with highly different species richness (15, 16).To encapsulate the emergent properties of large networks of interactions, a set of quantitative descriptors has been proposed (e.g., refs. 2, and 17-19) and widely adopted (e.g., refs. 11 and 20-22). Commonly used metrics summarize the specialization of species at different trophic levels, such as the average number of species at a lower trophic level interacting with ea...

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Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

Complementary molecular information changes our perception of food web structure

Wirta

Hebert

Kaartinen

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

145

202

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…) – thereby affecting population and community dynamics – studies of bat diet have so far mainly focused on variation between species (Emrich et al . ; Krüger et al . ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What you need is what you eat? Prey selection by the batMyotis daubentonii

et al. 2016

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Optimal foraging theory predicts that predators are selective when faced with abundant prey, but become less picky when prey gets sparse. Insectivorous bats in temperate regions are faced with the challenge of building up fat reserves vital for hibernation during a period of decreasing arthropod abundances. According to optimal foraging theory, prehibernating bats should adopt a less selective feeding behavior--yet empirical studies have revealed many apparently generalized species to be composed of specialist individuals. Targeting the diet of the bat Myotis daubentonii, we used a combination of molecular techniques to test for seasonal changes in prey selectivity and individual-level variation in prey preferences. DNA metabarcoding was used to characterize both the prey contents of bat droppings and the insect community available as prey. To test for dietary differences among M. daubentonii individuals, we used ten microsatellite loci to assign droppings to individual bats. The comparison between consumed and available prey revealed a preference for certain prey items regardless of availability. Nonbiting midges (Chironomidae) remained the most highly consumed prey at all times, despite a significant increase in the availability of black flies (Simuliidae) towards the end of the season. The bats sampled showed no evidence of individual specialization in dietary preferences. Overall, our approach offers little support for optimal foraging theory. Thus, it shows how novel combinations of genetic markers can be used to test general theory, targeting patterns at both the level of prey communities and individual predators.

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“…A specific methodological challenge emerges for generalist insectivores where individual gut contents may contain many different prey items (with solutions offered by, e.g., Vesterinen et al 2013Vesterinen et al , 2016Pinol et al 2014;Kruger et al 2014;Paula et al 2015). When it comes to uncovering who feeds on whom, DNA-based techniques offer a clear-cut advantage: the potential for studying feeding relations among species too small (such as soil fauna: Digel et al 2014), too secretive (e.g., bats: Clare et al 2009Clare et al , 2014aClare et al , 2014bClare et al , 2014cVesterinen et al 2013Vesterinen et al , 2016Emrich et al 2014;lemmings: Soininen et al 2009), or too wide-roaming ) for their feeding habits to be followed by direct means. Targeting links among host-parasitoid species hard to distinguish in a region hard to access-the tropical rainforest of Papua New Guinea- Hrček et al (2011) were able to detect 93 previously unknown trophic links between 37 host species from Lepidoptera and 46 parasitoid species from Hymenoptera and Diptera.…”

Section: Clarifying the Links Of Terrestrial Food Websmentioning

confidence: 99%

The use of DNA barcodes in food web construction—terrestrial and aquatic ecologists unite!

Roslin

Majaneva

2016

Genome

104

103

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By depicting who eats whom, food webs offer descriptions of how groupings in nature (typically species or populations) are linked to each other. For asking questions on how food webs are built and work, we need descriptions of food webs at different levels of resolution. DNA techniques provide opportunities for highly resolved webs. In this paper, we offer an exposé of how DNA-based techniques, and DNA barcodes in particular, have recently been used to construct food web structure in both terrestrial and aquatic systems. We highlight how such techniques can be applied to simultaneously improve the taxonomic resolution of the nodes of the web (i.e., the species), and the links between them (i.e., who eats whom). We end by proposing how DNA barcodes and DNA information may allow new approaches to the construction of larger interaction webs, and overcome some hurdles to achieving adequate sample size. Most importantly, we propose that the joint adoption and development of these techniques may serve to unite approaches to food web studies in aquatic and terrestrial systems-revealing the extent to which food webs in these environments are structured similarly to or differently from each other, and how they are linked by dispersal.Key words: DNA barcodes, food webs, species delimitation, species identification, trophic links, ecological networks.Résumé : En brossant le tableau de qui mange qui, les réseaux trophiques livrent une description des liens qui unissent des groupes d'espèces ou de populations. Afin de déterminer comment ces réseaux sont constitués et comment ils fonctionnent, il nous faut une description de ces réseaux à différents niveaux de résolution. Les techniques de l'ADN permettent de produire des réseaux trophiques de grande résolution. Dans ce travail, les auteurs décrivent comment les techniques fondées sur l'ADN, en particulier les codes à barres de l'ADN, ont récemment été employées pour étudier la structure des réseaux trophiques chez des systèmes tant terrestres qu'aquatiques. Les auteurs soulignent comment ces techniques peuvent servir à simultanément améliorer la résolution taxonomique des noeuds d'un réseau (i.e. les espèces) ainsi que les relations entre eux (qui mange qui). Les auteurs terminent en proposant des moyens via lesquels les codes à barres et l'information tirée de l'ADN rendent possible de nouvelles approches en vue de la construction de plus grands réseaux d'interaction et permettent de surmonter des difficultés rencontrées dans l'acquisition d'échantillons de taille suffisante. Surtout, les auteurs proposent que l'adoption et le développement conjoints de ces techniques peut contribuer à unifier les approches employées dans l'étude des réseaux trophiques au sein des systèmes aquatiques et terrestres. Cela permettra de révéler l'étendue de la similarité ou de la dissimilarité dans la façon dont sont structurés les réseaux dans ces différents environnements et comment ils sont liés par la dispersion. [Traduit par la Rédaction]

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Resource partitioning by insectivorous bats in Jamaica

Cited by 72 publications

References 35 publications

Complementary molecular information changes our perception of food web structure

Complementary molecular information changes our perception of food web structure

What you need is what you eat? Prey selection by the batMyotis daubentonii

The use of DNA barcodes in food web construction—terrestrial and aquatic ecologists unite!

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