Arazmi Fatihah Najihah, Ismail Nor Adibah, Daud Ummi Nur Syafiqah, Mansor Mohammad Saiful
Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600 UKM, Selangor, Malaysia.
Department of Earth Sciences and Environment, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600 UKM, Selangor, Malaysia.
Animals (Basel). 2025 Mar 27;15(7):974. doi: 10.3390/ani15070974.
The conversion of tropical forests into urban and agriculture landscapes may alter insect populations through habitat disturbance and impact the diets of aerial insectivores. Most dietary studies on aerial insectivores have limitation on identifying prey at higher taxonomic levels in broad landscapes, restricting species-level identification and thus making a detailed dietary comparison impossible. This study examines the dietary changes through adaptation of house-farm swiftlets ( sp.) and Pacific swallows () across three distinct habitats in Peninsular Malaysia: mixed-use landscapes, oil palm plantations, and paddy fields. High-throughput DNA metabarcoding with ANML primers targeting mitochondrial gene, identified 245 arthropod prey species, with six dominant orders: Coleoptera, Diptera, Blattodea, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, and Lepidoptera. Mixed-use landscapes supported the highest dietary diversity and niche breadth, reflecting their ecological complexity. Paddy fields exhibited moderate diversity, while oil palm plantations demonstrated the lowest diversity, influenced by simplified vegetation structures and limited prey availability. The consumption of agricultural pests and vector species highlights the critical ecological role of aerial insectivorous birds in natural pest management and mitigating vector-borne disease risks. This research emphasizes the importance of conserving habitat heterogeneity to sustain the ecological services provided by these birds, benefiting both agricultural productivity and public health.
将热带森林转变为城市和农业景观可能会通过栖息地干扰改变昆虫种群，并影响食虫鸟类的饮食。大多数关于食虫鸟类的饮食研究在广阔景观中识别较高分类水平的猎物方面存在局限性，限制了物种水平的识别，因此无法进行详细的饮食比较。本研究通过对马来西亚半岛三种不同栖息地（混合用途景观、油棕种植园和稻田）中的家燕（学名待定）和太平洋燕鸥的适应性研究，考察饮食变化。使用针对线粒体 基因的ANML引物进行高通量DNA代谢条形码分析，鉴定出245种节肢动物猎物物种，主要有六个目：鞘翅目、双翅目、蜚蠊目、半翅目、膜翅目和鳞翅目。混合用途景观支持最高的饮食多样性和生态位宽度，反映了它们的生态复杂性。稻田表现出中等多样性，而油棕种植园的多样性最低，这受到植被结构简化和猎物可用性有限的影响。对农业害虫和病媒物种的捕食凸显了食虫鸟类在自然害虫管理和降低病媒传播疾病风险方面的关键生态作用。这项研究强调了保护栖息地异质性对于维持这些鸟类提供的生态服务的重要性，这对农业生产力和公众健康都有益处。
