Guo Qiang, Lu Xi, Xie Chongxin, Zhang Jiansong, Xu Xianyin, Qian Yuhan, Luo Xu, Duan Yubao
Key Laboratory for Forest Resources Conservation and Utilization in the Southwest Mountains of China, Ministry of Education, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China.
College of Forestry, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China.
Animals (Basel). 2024 Apr 10;14(8):1146. doi: 10.3390/ani14081146.
Sympatric closely related species may experience interspecific trophic competition due to ecological similarity; they may isolate in terms of diet or habitat use as a strategy to avoid competition. The body tissues of consumers contain stable isotope signatures information that can be applied to infer their dietary information. In this study, δC and δN stable isotopes were analyzed to determine the dietary information and trophic niches of sympatric coexisting and . The results showed that the food sources of and were from six orders, including Orthoptera, and the cumulative contribution rate was 99.97%, with the two species eating similar diets but at different rates. The larger δC of indicates that it had a wider range of habitats for feeding, while the difference in δN values was not significant ( > 0.05), indicating that both species feed on similar nutrient levels. As determined by Bayesian ellipses, the isotopic niches of and were differentiated; the isotopic niche width of is 2.69‱, which was larger than that of (0.73‱), indicates that differentiation between the two species in diet or habitat use reduced competition. Trophic niche differentiation and differences in foraging proportions may be the principal resource allocation mechanisms behind and coexistence.
同域分布的近缘物种可能由于生态相似性而经历种间营养竞争;它们可能在饮食或栖息地利用方面进行隔离,作为避免竞争的一种策略。消费者的身体组织包含稳定同位素特征信息,可用于推断其饮食信息。在本研究中,分析了δC和δN稳定同位素,以确定同域共存的[物种名称1]和[物种名称2]的饮食信息和营养生态位。结果表明,[物种名称1]和[物种名称2]的食物来源来自六个目,包括直翅目,累积贡献率为99.97%,这两个物种的饮食相似,但比例不同。[物种名称1]较大的δC值表明其觅食的栖息地范围更广,而δN值差异不显著(P>0.05),表明两个物种的食物营养水平相似。通过贝叶斯椭圆确定,[物种名称1]和[物种名称2]的同位素生态位存在分化;[物种名称1]的同位素生态位宽度为2.69‱,大于[物种名称2]的(0.73‱),这表明两个物种在饮食或栖息地利用上的分化减少了竞争。营养生态位分化和觅食比例差异可能是[物种名称1]和[物种名称2]共存背后的主要资源分配机制。