Ma Ruifeng, Ma Shujuan, Liu Hongyi, Hu Lei, Li Yudong, He Ke, Zhu Ying
College of Grassland Resources, Institute of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, Sichuan Provincial Forest and Grassland Key Laboratory of Alpine Grassland Conservation and Utilization of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Southwest Minzu University Chengdu Sichuan China.
The Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, College of Life Sciences Nanjing Forestry University Nanjing China.
Ecol Evol. 2024 Aug 29;14(9):e70234. doi: 10.1002/ece3.70234. eCollection 2024 Sep.
Invertebrates greatly support the growth, development, and reproduction of insectivorous birds. However, the influence of human activity (e.g., pesticide use, deforestation, and urbanization) inevitably leads to a decrease in global arthropods. The diversity and variation in invertebrate diet influence the food composition of birds, especially species living in rapidly changing environments, such as the Tibetan Plateau. However, little is known of the seasonal variation in invertebrate diet in response to environmental changes. Here, we characterized the invertebrate diet composition in pre- and post-breeding black-necked crane () using fecal metabarcoding. We identified 38 invertebrate genera; the top three were (82.1% of relative abundance), (3.0%), and (), with predominated the diet in both seasons. We also observed 20 and 16 unique genera in the pre- and post-breeding periods, and the genera composition was distinct between seasons ( = .036, = .024). In pre-breeding, black-necked cranes tended to consume more diverse foods, and individual cranes exhibited greater heterogeneity at the genus level. At the genera and species level, pre-breeding black-necked cranes showed a wider dietary niche than post-breeding cranes. We observed season-specific features, with (common crane fly) and (grasshoppers) being enriched in the post-breeding period and (moth) being more abundant in the pre-breeding period. Three species had the greatest importance in discriminating between seasonal diets. This study demonstrated a seasonal pattern of invertebrate diet in the black-necked crane, suggesting diet composition in response to resource and species availability. These results elaborate on the foraging ecology of highland birds and can inform the management of black-necked crane conservation.
无脊椎动物极大地支持了食虫鸟类的生长、发育和繁殖。然而，人类活动（如使用农药、砍伐森林和城市化）的影响不可避免地导致全球节肢动物数量减少。无脊椎动物饮食的多样性和变化会影响鸟类的食物组成，尤其是生活在快速变化环境中的物种，如青藏高原的鸟类。然而，关于无脊椎动物饮食随环境变化的季节性变化却知之甚少。在这里，我们通过粪便代谢条形码技术对黑颈鹤繁殖前后的无脊椎动物饮食组成进行了特征分析。我们鉴定出38个无脊椎动物属；排名前三的是（相对丰度为82.1%）、（3.0%）和（），在两个季节中均占主导地位。我们还在繁殖前和繁殖后时期分别观察到20个和16个独特的属，并且不同季节的属组成存在差异（=0.036，=0.024）。在繁殖前，黑颈鹤倾向于食用更多样化的食物，并且个体鹤在属水平上表现出更大的异质性。在属和物种水平上，繁殖前的黑颈鹤比繁殖后的鹤表现出更广泛的饮食生态位。我们观察到了特定季节的特征，（普通大蚊）和（蚱蜢）在繁殖后时期更为丰富，而（蛾）在繁殖前时期更为常见。三种物种在区分季节性饮食方面最为重要。这项研究揭示了黑颈鹤无脊椎动物饮食的季节性模式，表明饮食组成会根据资源和物种可利用性而变化。这些结果阐述了高原鸟类的觅食生态学，并可为黑颈鹤保护管理提供参考。
