Adaptive foraging in the Anthropocene: can individual diet specialization compensate for biotic homogenization?

Manlick, Philip J.; Newsome, Seth D.

doi:10.1002/fee.2380

Cited by 15 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…Specialist species are adversely affected by past and current global changes that elevate extinction risks (Kotiaho et al 2005; Sánchez-Bayo and Wyckhuys 2021). Generalist species have effectively replaced specialist species, bringing functional homogenisation at the community level (Franzén et al 2020;Manlick and Newsome 2021). As moths are crucial as food for higher trophic levels, important herbivores, associated with diverse host-parasite networks and pollinators of wild plants and crops, there is potential for the functional homogenisation of moth communities demonstrated here to cascade up and down, thereby altering ecosystem functioning, goods, and services (Wang et al 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Positive shifts in species richness and abundance of moths over five decades coincide with community-wide phenotypic trait homogenisation

Franzén

Francioli

Sjöberg³

et al. 2023

J Insect Conserv

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While some species rapidly decline, compromising vital ecosystem services, others are stable or even increasing in abundance. We studied shifts in species richness and abundance of moths over five decades in Central Sweden and examined whether and how changes were associated with phenotypic traits. We combined information from captures in a light trap in historical time (the 1970s) and contemporarily (2019) with provincial colonisation records. Both community species richness and the abundance of moths increased between the time periods. A large fraction (38%) of the 410 species were not present in both periods, 101 species had colonised the area (an estimated influx of about 2.5 new species per year), and 51 species had disappeared (an estimated local extinction rate of about 1.16 species per year). Abundance increased with an increasing number of host plants and with increasing colour pattern variation. The composition of the community shifted towards species characterised by smaller wingspan and larger ranges. The functional trait variability of the moth community was homogenised from the historical to the contemporary period, in line with reports from other species communities in modern landscapes. However, our finding of a concomitant increase in species richness and total abundance differs from the results of many recent studies of insect communities in other geographic regions. Implication for insect conservation We conclude that the entire boreal moth fauna is undergoing a substantial biogeographical shift, changing to the moth species historically occurring at more southern latitudes. The alterations in species composition, overall abundance, and community-wide trait distribution described here may cascade up and down in the ecosystem because moths are important pollinators, herbivores, and prey.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Positive shifts in species richness and abundance of moths over five decades coincide with community-wide phenotypic trait homogenisation

Franzén

Francioli

Sjöberg³

et al. 2023

J Insect Conserv

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“…“ecological release”), intraspecific competition will promote resource niche expansion and IDS. It then follows that if biotic homogenisation reduces taxonomic diversity and interspecific competition, intraspecific competition within the remaining taxa should expand population resource niches and increase the prevalence of IDS (Manlick & Newsome, 2021 ). Similarly, there were other WFPs that were foraged in the remote mountains of North Pakistan and brought home, without taking into account the negative impacts of extensive collection; for instance, Eremurus spp.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The nexus between traditional foraging and its sustainability: a qualitative assessment among a few selected Eurasian case studies

Aziz

Mattalia

Sulaiman

et al. 2022

Environ Dev Sustain

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Plant foraging is an important human ecological phenomenon being studied by a number of contemporary ethnobiologists as well as by a few social anthropologists among rural communities and, more recently, in urban environments. The sustainability dimension of foraging is, however, largely unexplored. We analyse a few case studies from recent field research and qualitatively assess both the environmental and social sustainability of diverse patterns of traditional foraging practices in three distinct human ecological environments (horticulturalism-, forestry-, and pastoralism-driven) located in the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Europe, and North Pakistan, i.e. we address the question of when does traditional foraging become unsustainable and what factors may influence this. The main findings are multidimensional. First, in all case studies, we sometimes observed competitive foraging among the gatherers of certain wild food plants potentially causing ecological degradation; such unsustainable practices seem to be linked to the market pressure on certain species. However, also customs and norms promoted by states can be detrimental (former Soviet Union), as well as climate change (Eastern Europe), and marginalisation of some minority groups (Pakistan). Second, in the Mediterranean Syrian context, wild food plant resources are largely represented by widely available weedy “wild” vegetables, normally (but not exclusively) collected by women, and usually easily accessible; only very few wild food plants seem to be threatened due to specific market demands or to disequilibria created by household economic instabilities due to the recent war. We also argue that unsustainable foraging is enhanced by the abandonment of daily practices and continuous interaction with the natural environment and by the increasingly uneven distribution of active practical knowledge on wild food plants among the middle-aged and younger population. Facilitating the transmission of sustainable foraging knowledge and practices could be therefore crucial, also for coping with food insecurity in times of crisis; but for that to occur, holistic environmental and food educational frameworks, appropriate policies for fostering community-based biodiversity conservation and also social cohesion and communal management of lands should be seriously considered as well. Moreover, future gastronomic and eco-tourism initiatives, if organised in a thoughtful manner, could represent a positive turning point not only for the local small-scale economies of the considered rural communities but also for helping them to dynamically preserve the entire socio-ecological system underpinned in plant foraging and ultimately to better adapt to the current global crisis.

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“…The alteration of predators' trophic niches can have critical consequences for structuring prey communities and their interactions with sympatric competitors (Estes et al, 2011; Jiang & Morin, 2005). Future studies encompassing food availability and niche overlap among mesocarnivore assemblages with relation to abiotic conditions (Manlick & Newsome, 2021; Manlick & Pauli, 2020) are imperative to inform ecosystem management practices under the ongoing environmental and social changes in Japan.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…availability and niche overlap among mesocarnivore assemblages with relation to abiotic conditions (Manlick & Newsome, 2021;Manlick & Pauli, 2020) are imperative to inform ecosystem management practices under the ongoing environmental and social changes in Japan.…”

Section: Acknowledgmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Red foxes in Japan show adaptability in prey resource according to geography and season: A meta‐analysis

Hisano

Evans

Soga

et al. 2021

Ecological Research

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The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) is the world's most widespread member of the order Carnivora, occurring across a large range of latitudes and inhabiting multiple habitat types. There is no comprehensive study of how the diets of this flexible generalist vary across the whole Asian continent. We conducted a meta‐analysis of red fox diets in Japan, examining the patterns in food type selection and their associations with seasonality, regional climate, vegetation productivity, and human influences at the national scale. Using linear mixed models, we revealed significant seasonal effects on the frequency of occurrence of mammals in general, ungulate carcasses, birds, and invertebrates in the diets of red foxes. Furthermore, the frequency of occurrence of mammals significantly decreased with mean annual temperature and increased with vegetation productivity. The frequency of invertebrate occurrences increased with temperature, and that of anthropogenic foods increased with human population density. Trophic diversity and dietary niche breadth increased with annual temperature but decreased with vegetation productivity and population density. These results suggest that the red fox is a flexible predator in Japan that adapts its foraging patterns according to variations in resource availability and abiotic conditions, while persistently consuming a certain ratio of animal prey to meet its metabolic requirements. Modifications of predators' trophic niches can influence structures of prey communities and interactions with sympatric competitors. Our findings are important for informing ecosystem management practices under ongoing environmental and social changes in Japan.

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Adaptive foraging in the Anthropocene: can individual diet specialization compensate for biotic homogenization?

Cited by 15 publications

References 61 publications

Positive shifts in species richness and abundance of moths over five decades coincide with community-wide phenotypic trait homogenisation

Positive shifts in species richness and abundance of moths over five decades coincide with community-wide phenotypic trait homogenisation

The nexus between traditional foraging and its sustainability: a qualitative assessment among a few selected Eurasian case studies

Red foxes in Japan show adaptability in prey resource according to geography and season: A meta‐analysis

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