Balčiauskas Linas, Skipitytė Raminta, Garbaras Andrius, Stirkė Vitalijus, Balčiauskienė Laima, Remeikis Vidmantas
Nature Research Centre, Akademijos 2, 08412 Vilnius, Lithuania.
Center for Physical Sciences and Technology, Saulėtekio av. 3, 02300 Vilnius, Lithuania.
Animals (Basel). 2021 Jun 17;11(6):1814. doi: 10.3390/ani11061814.
Diets and trophic positions of co-occurring animals are fundamental issues in their ecology, and these issues in syntopic rodents have been studied insufficiently. Using carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stable isotope ratios from hair samples, we analysed the trophic niches of common (), field (), and root () voles co-occurring in orchards, berry plantations, and nearby meadows (as control habitat to orchards and plantations). We tested if the niche of the dominant common vole was the widest, whether its width depended on the presence of other vole species, and whether there were intraspecific differences. Results suggest stability in the trophic niches of all three species, as season explained only 2% of the variance. The widest trophic niche was a characteristic of the dominant common vole, the range of C values exceeding the other two species by 1.6, the range of N values exceeding the other two species by 1.9, and the total area of niche exceeding that of the other voles by 2.3-3 times. In the meadows and apple orchards, co-occurring vole species were separated according to C (highest values in the dominant common vole), but they maintained similar N values. Results give new insights into the trophic ecology small herbivores, showing the impact of species co-occurrence.
共生动物的饮食和营养级是其生态学中的基本问题，而对同域啮齿动物的这些问题研究不足。我们利用毛发样本中的碳（C）和氮（N）稳定同位素比率，分析了果园、浆果种植园以及附近草地（作为果园和种植园的对照栖息地）中共同出现的普通田鼠、草原田鼠和根田鼠的营养生态位。我们测试了优势普通田鼠的生态位是否最宽，其宽度是否取决于其他田鼠物种的存在，以及是否存在种内差异。结果表明，所有三个物种的营养生态位具有稳定性，因为季节仅解释了2%的方差。最宽的营养生态位是优势普通田鼠的特征，其C值范围比其他两个物种高出1.6，N值范围比其他两个物种高出1.9，生态位总面积比其他田鼠高出2.3至3倍。在草地和苹果园中，共同出现的田鼠物种根据C值（优势普通田鼠中最高）进行区分，但它们的N值保持相似。研究结果为小型食草动物的营养生态学提供了新的见解，显示了物种共生的影响。
