Isotopic partitioning by small mammals in the subnivium

Calandra, Ivan; Labonne, G.; Mathieu, Olivier; Henttonen, Heikki; Lévêque, Jean; Milloux, Marie-Jeanne; Renvoisé, Élodie; Montuire, Sophie; Navarro, Nicolas

doi:10.1002/ece3.1653

Cited by 21 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 59 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…While dense co‐occurrence of sympatric species may be attributed to differences in microhabitat use (Jorgensen, ), not all cases can be explained by this “microhabitat paradigm” (Balestrieri et al, ). Alternative means to coexist can be through a spatial arrangement of species (Myllymäki, ; Wilson et al, ), differing diets (Shiels et al, ), or via dietary separation of species with similar requirements, that is, resource partitioning (Calandra et al, ; Dueser & Shuggart, ; Meserve, ; Schoener, ; Symes, Wilson, Woodborne, Shaikh, & Scantlebury, ). Additional drivers may also influence the temporal and spatial placement of resources and small mammals (Balestrieri et al, ; Marques, Rocha, Mendes, Fonseca, & Ferreira, ; Sozio & Mortelliti, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resource partitioning confirmed by isotopic signatures allows small mammals to share seasonally flooded meadows

Balčiauskas

Skipitytė

Balčiauskienė

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Meadows in river deltas are characterized by a high diversity and abundance of small mammals. However, neither their spatial arrangement nor differences in their use of microhabitat can necessarily explain the dense co‐occurrence of sympatric species. We investigated how several small mammal species share a seasonally flooded meadow of limited size, testing predictions (P1) that herbivore, granivore, insectivore, and omnivore species are separated in time (dominant in different years), (P2) that sympatric species undergo isotopic partitioning, and (P3) that there are intraspecific differences in diet. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope signatures in the hair of seven synantropic shrew, vole, and mice species were used as a proxy for their diet. We found that the three most abundant species in eight of the nine years were from different diet groups. However, based on the number of species in the functional groups, the state of small mammal community was considered unfavored in five out of the nine investigation years. In years with the greatest dominance of Apodemus agrarius , the small mammal community was characterized by decreased diversity and Micromys minutus was either in low abundance or absent. In 2014 and 2016, years of low abundance or absence of M. oeconomus , M. agrestis, and M. glareolus were both recorded in high numbers. Differences in the isotopic signatures of the three most abundant small mammal species in the community were clearly expressed and core areas in the isotopic space were separated, showing their dependence on different dietary resources. Intraspecific dietary separation between young and adult animals was observed only in M. oeconomus . Thus, the high species diversity of small mammals and the formation of their community in this investigated flooded meadow are maintained by isotopic partitioning (segregation in dietary space) and by changes in their number over time (shifting dominance).

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resource partitioning confirmed by isotopic signatures allows small mammals to share seasonally flooded meadows

Balčiauskas

Skipitytė

Balčiauskienė

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In summer, the dietary spectrum is wider and includes less abrasive dicotyledons (mean Si=0.43%; Hodson et al, 2005) as well (Tast, 1974;Batzli and Henttonen, 1990;Soininen et al, 2009Soininen et al, , 2013. This seasonal shift in food sources is also reflected in the stable isotopic compositions of teeth from Arctic voles (Calandra et al, 2015), and in the present microwear texture data on Polish animals. This implies that DMTA can track variations in the dietary abrasiveness of wild populations.…”

Section: Seasonal and Geographical Variationmentioning

confidence: 49%

“…This could dampen the cyclic signal. Second, voles feed mainly on dicotyledons in autumn (Tast, 1974;Batzli and Henttonen, 1990;Soininen et al, 2009Soininen et al, , 2013; see also Calandra et al, 2015), so the increased abrasiveness in monocotyledons rejected by voles would not impact tooth textures during this season.…”

Section: Variation Across Population Phasesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First, laboratory voles raised in experimental conditions were analysed to assess whether varying silicon levels alone could produce different textures. Second, wild populations trapped in spring, when voles feed almost exclusively on silicon-rich monocotyledons, were compared with populations trapped in summer, which also incorporate silica-depleted dicotyledons in their diets (Tast, 1974;Batzli and Henttonen, 1990;Soininen et al, 2009Soininen et al, , 2013Calandra et al, 2015). Wild voles were then sampled during consecutive years of a population cycle to test whether fluctuations in plant silicon levels caused by vole population cycles induce different dental microwear textures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Silicon-based plant defences, tooth wear and voles

Calandra

Zub

Szafrańska

et al. 2016

Journal of Experimental Biology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Plant-herbivore interactions are hypothesized to drive vole population cycles through the grazing-induced production of phytoliths in leaves. Phytoliths act as mechanical defences because they deter herbivory and lower growth rates in mammals. However, how phytoliths impair herbivore performance is still unknown. Here, we tested whether the amount of phytoliths changes tooth wear patterns. If confirmed, abrasion from phytoliths could play a role in population crashes. We applied dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA) to laboratory and wild voles. Lab voles were fed two pelleted diets with differing amounts of silicon, which produced similar dental textures. This was most probably due to the loss of food mechanical properties through pelletization and/or the small difference in silicon concentration between diets. Wild voles were trapped in Poland during spring and summer, and every year across a population cycle. In spring, voles feed on silica-rich monocotyledons, while in the summer they also include silicadepleted dicotyledons. This was reflected in the results; the amount of silica therefore leaves a traceable record in the dental microwear texture of voles. Furthermore, voles from different phases of population cycles have different microwear textures. We tentatively propose that these differences result from grazing-induced phytolith concentrations. We hypothesize that the high amount of phytoliths in response to intense grazing in peak years may result in malocclusion and other dental abnormalities, which would explain how these silicon-based plant defences help provoke population crashes. DMTA could then be used to reconstruct vole population dynamics using teeth from pellets or palaeontological material.

show abstract

“…Its diet is highly variable and may include various herbs, seeds, buds, roots, berries, fruits, mosses, lichens, fungi, and small invertebrates (Calandra et al. ). Bank voles are important prey of many owls and hawks and mammalian predators from weasels to foxes (Krebs ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological mechanisms can modify radiation effects in a key forest mammal of Chernobyl

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Nuclear accidents underpin the need to quantify the ecological mechanisms which determine injury to ecosystems from chronic low‐dose radiation. Here, we tested the hypothesis that ecological mechanisms interact with ionizing radiation to affect natural populations in unexpected ways. We used large‐scale replicated experiments and food manipulations in wild populations of the rodent, Myodes glareolus, inhabiting the region near the site of the Chernobyl disaster of 1986. We show linear decreases in breeding success with increasing ambient radiation levels with no evidence of any threshold below which effects are not seen. Food supplementation of experimental populations resulted in increased abundances but only in locations where radioactive contamination was low (i.e., below ≈ 1 μSv/h). In areas with higher contamination, food supplementation showed no detectable effects. These findings suggest that chronic low‐dose‐rate irradiation can decrease the stability of populations of key forest species, and these effects could potentially scale to broader community changes with concomitant consequences for the ecosystem functioning of forests impacted by nuclear accidents.

show abstract

Isotopic partitioning by small mammals in the subnivium

Cited by 21 publications

References 59 publications

Resource partitioning confirmed by isotopic signatures allows small mammals to share seasonally flooded meadows

Resource partitioning confirmed by isotopic signatures allows small mammals to share seasonally flooded meadows

Silicon-based plant defences, tooth wear and voles

Ecological mechanisms can modify radiation effects in a key forest mammal of Chernobyl

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About