Establishment of a faecal DNA quantification technique for rare and cryptic diet constituents in small mammals

Groen, Kevin; Trimbos, Krijn B.; Hein, Susanne; Blaauw, Astrid I; Bodegom, Peter M. van; Hahne, Joerg; Jacob, Jens

doi:10.1111/1755-0998.13609

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 90 publications

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“…The animal’s metabolism and assimilation to meet nutritional requirements may explain these variations between values observed for corn and faeces. Furthermore, considering that the gastrointestinal transit time of ingesta lasts several hours in mice [ 60 , 61 , 62 ], we cannot exclude that the elemental and isotopic information registered in faeces could likely also be influenced by the diet consumed before the experiment. For example, the significant N enrichment noted could be due to animal material previously ingested, since the wood mouse also feeds on arthropods and other invertebrates [ 63 , 64 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Experimental Study in Wild Wood Mice Testing Elemental and Isotope Analysis in Faeces to Determine Variations in Food Intake Amount

Navarro-Castilla

Hernández

Barja

2023

Animals

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The analysis of carbon and nitrogen elemental (C, N) and isotopic compositions (δ13C, δ15N) in faeces are considered reliable methodologies for the study of diet in wildlife. Here, we tested the suitability of these techniques to detect variations in the amount of food intake. We captured wild wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) with Sherman live traps where bait access was initially free, and later it was experimentally limited inside by four different devices to cause intended variations in the amount ingested. The total C and N (%) and stable δ13C and δ15N isotopic values were determined for the bait and in mice faecal samples. Faecal values were lower than bait ones except for N, likely due to animal matter ingested before capture. No significant differences in total C, N and δ13C were found due to individual traits. However, breeding males showed higher δ15N values than breeding females, probably due to differences in energy and protein demands between both sexes during the breeding season. Only δ13C detected food intake variations (≥2 g). Despite further research being needed, these results initially support the potential of δ13C to provide information on the amount ingested, thus being useful to complement trophic ecology studies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Experimental Study in Wild Wood Mice Testing Elemental and Isotope Analysis in Faeces to Determine Variations in Food Intake Amount

Navarro-Castilla

Hernández

Barja

2023

Animals

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“…Smaller prey probably constitutes less in terms of biomass and energy intake than larger prey towards a lion's diet. However, conversion factors that can transfer DNA content in feces to actual biomass intake are greatly lacking (but do exist for the studies of food remains in feces and gut contents, e.g., see Wachter et al, 2012 and Groen et al, 2022). Hence, as DNA‐based approaches are increasingly being used for diet studies, feeding studies relating biomass to DNA content are needed but currently remain challenging (Deagle et al, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

DNAmetabarcoding illuminates the contribution of small and very small prey taxa to the diet of lions

Groen,

Beekenkamp,

de Iongh

et al. 2023

Environmental DNA

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Knowledge of food web interactions is essential for understanding the role of carnivores in an ecosystem and designing appropriate conservation and management strategies to preserve them. These interactions can only be understood by studying carnivores' diets and obtaining comprehensive and unbiased diet data. For large carnivores—which typically rely on large herbivores as prey—the role of smaller prey species has not received attention. This study aims to quantify the contribution of small (5–50 kg) and very small (<5 kg) prey taxa in the diet of lions (Panthera leo melanochaita) in four Kenyan National Parks (NPs). We use DNA metabarcoding to achieve higher‐resolution insights into prey composition, which is less biased toward large prey species compared to traditional methods, such as carcass counts. Our study identified 24 prey taxa in a total of 171 lion fecal samples. Small and very small prey taxa together contributed 18.7% out of 278 prey occurrences in all fecal samples, with comparable small prey presence (ranging from 8% to 15%) in the diet for each NP studied. This approach proved to be useful in detecting small and very small prey species in the diet of lions and can therefore be used in future research to uncover the diverse diet composition of these large carnivores. The consistent presence of smaller prey species in the diet indicates that lions generally supplement their large prey diet with smaller prey.

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“…Visual inspection of fish stomach contents provides taxonomic information as well as information about prey quantities and prey life stages and sizes but may yield results biased towards larger prey items or prey items with hard structures like otoliths or exoskeletons, while underestimating prey diversity due to unidentifiable, highly digested material (Nielsen et al ., 2018). DNA‐based methods, in contrast, have shown considerable promise in the detection of cryptic species (Groen et al ., 2022) and prey from highly digested material (Carreon‐Martinez et al ., 2011), increasing the taxonomic resolution in diet assessments (Nielsen et al ., 2018) and thereby contributing to increased knowledge about the diversity of predator diets. Nevertheless, there are many technical considerations and limitations to DNA metabarcoding, as well as quantification issues (Deagle et al ., 2019; Nielsen et al ., 2018).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental abundances of the non‐native round gobyNeogobius melanostomusinfluence feeding of native fish predators

Herlevi

Kihlberg

Aarnio

et al. 2023

Journal of Fish Biology

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The authors assessed the importance of the round goby Neogobius melanostomus as prey for three native predatory fish species, Atlantic cod Gadus morhua, European perch Perca fluviatilis and northern pike Esox lucius, in a northern and southern area of the Baltic Proper, using a combination of visual analysis and DNA metabarcoding of predator stomach contents. To explore the influence of environmental abundances of N. melanostomus on predation, they related the occurrence of N. melanostomus in predator diets to its abundance in survey fishing. Gadus morhua and E. lucius in the southern area showed the highest tendency to feed on N. melanostomus when it was abundant, as N. melanostomus occurred in up to 100% of stomachs and constituted up to 88% of the total diet volume proportion. The diet contribution of N. melanostomus was associated with N. melanostomus abundances for G. morhua and E. lucius, and when N. melanostomus was abundant, these predators exhibited lower prey richness and a higher degree of piscivory. G. morhua and P. fluviatilis also fed less on crustacean prey when N. melanostomus was abundant. The high importance of N. melanostomus in diets of native fish predators may modify indirect interactions between N. melanostomus and native prey species in invaded coastal communities.

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Establishment of a faecal DNA quantification technique for rare and cryptic diet constituents in small mammals

Cited by 6 publications

References 90 publications

An Experimental Study in Wild Wood Mice Testing Elemental and Isotope Analysis in Faeces to Determine Variations in Food Intake Amount

An Experimental Study in Wild Wood Mice Testing Elemental and Isotope Analysis in Faeces to Determine Variations in Food Intake Amount

DNAmetabarcoding illuminates the contribution of small and very small prey taxa to the diet of lions

Environmental abundances of the non‐native round gobyNeogobius melanostomusinfluence feeding of native fish predators

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