Trait‐based functional dietary analysis provides a better insight into the foraging ecology of bats

Abstract

The degree of trophic specialization determines the ability of predators to cope with changing foraging conditions, but in predators that prey on hundreds of species it is challenging to assess, especially when prey identity varies among predator individuals and across space and time. Here, we test the hypothesis that a bat species foraging on flying insects like moths will show ample flexibility in trophic niche, and this irrespective of phylogenetic relationships among moths, so as to cope with a high diversity of prey types that vary across seasons. We predict that individual bats will show functional dietary differences consistent with energetic requirements and hunting skills. We used DNA metabarcoding to determine the diet of 126 Mediterranean horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus euryale) from two different sites during three seasons. Simultaneously, we measured moth availability and characterized the traits of 290 moth taxa. Next, we explored the relationship between phylogeny and traits of all consumed and available moth taxa. Finally, we assessed the relationship between individual traits of bats and traits related to prey profitability, for which we used the RLQ and fourth‐corner statistical techniques. Seasonality was the main factor explaining the functional dietary variation in adult bats, with moths consumed irrespective of their phylogenetic relationships. While adults consumed moths with a broad range in wing loading, body mass and echolocation detection ability, juveniles consumed slower, smaller and lighter moths, which suggests that young individuals may undergo some fitness gain and/or psychomotor learning process during which they would acquire more effective foraging skills. Our approach revealed a degree of functional flexibility in the trophic niche previously unknown for an insectivorous bat. Rhinolophus euryale consumed a wide variety of moth taxa differing in profitability throughout seasons and between ontogenetic stages. We showed the validity of trait‐based approaches to gain new insights in the trophic specialization of predators consuming hundreds of species of prey.

eDNA metabarcoding reveals a core and secondary diets of the greater horseshoe bat with strong spatio‐temporal plasticity

“…Indeed, as described for other bat and mammal species, local patterns might be influenced by the specialization of different individuals within colonies (Bolnick et al., 2003; Johnston & Fenton, 2001; Thiemann et al., 2011). Differences in echolocation characteristics, flight and hunting performances between juveniles and adult bats may, for example, contribute to a wider spectrum of prey when young start to feed themselves compared to adults (Arrizabalaga‐Escudero et al., 2019; Czenze et al., 2018; Rolseth et al., 1994; Salsamendi et al., 2008).…”

Barcode UK: A complete DNA barcoding resource for the flowering plants and conifers of the United Kingdom

“…In environmental monitoring, DNA metabarcoding has been used to detect the presence of rare species (Harper et al, 2018), to reveal pollinator communities by retrieving insect DNA from the flowers they visit (Thomsen & Sigsgaard, 2019), monitoring biodiversity change by reconstructing historical plant communities (Edwards et al, 2017) and to identify pollen from the air (Brennan et al, 2019) or from the bodies of insects (Lucas et al, 2018). DNA barcoding has been widely employed for diet analysis, as when examining food partitioning in herbivores (Kartzinel et al, 2015) or the trophic specialisation of bats (Arrizabalaga‐Escudero et al, 2019).…”

“…DNA barcoding has been widely employed for diet analysis, as when examining food partitioning in herbivores (Kartzinel et al, 2015) or the trophic specialisation of bats (Arrizabalaga-Escudero et al, 2019).…”

Bats actively prey on mosquitoes and other deleterious insects in rice paddies: Potential impact on human health and agriculture

“…In some cases these can constitute a very significant portion of the diet, leading some authors to suggest that the right term to describe the bat trophic strategy should be arthropodophagy instead of the widely accepted insectivory 116 . Despite the variety in their diet, insects have received by far the most attention when describing bat diet 48,117 …”