Overlap of temporal niches among four sympatric species of shrews

Rychlik, Leszek

doi:10.1007/bf03194481

Cited by 33 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…For example, the two shrew species Neomys fodiens and Neomys anomalus co-exist in streams, but N. fodiens individuals are able to dive longer than N. anomalus and thus are able to reach and utilize a wider variety of prey [44, 45]. In contrast, fewer studies have sought to explore the relationships between the overall predatory success of a population and distinct population-level parameters that might be predictive of such success [19, 46–48].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decomposing Predation: Testing for Parameters that Correlate with Predatory Performance by a Social Bacterium

Mendes‐Soares

Velicer

2012

Microb Ecol

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Predator-prey interactions presumably play major roles in shaping the composition and dynamics of microbial communities. However, little is understood about the population biology of such interactions or how predation-related parameters vary or correlate across prey environments. Myxococcus xanthus is a motile soil bacterium that feeds on a broad range of other soil microbes that vary greatly in the degree to which they support M. xanthus growth. In order to decompose predator-prey interactions at the population level, we quantified five predation-related parameters during M. xanthus growth on nine phylogenetically diverse bacterial prey species. The horizontal expansion rate of swarming predator colonies fueled by prey lawns served as our measure of overall predatory performance, as it incorporates both the searching (motility) and handling (killing and consumption of prey) components of predation. Four other parameters – predator population growth rate, maximum predator yield, maximum prey kill, and overall rate of prey death – were measured from homogeneously mixed predator-prey lawns from which predator populations were not allowed to expand horizontally by swarming motility. All prey species fueled predator population growth. For some prey, predator-specific prey death was detected contemporaneously with predator population growth, whereas killing of other prey species was detected only after cessation of predator growth. All four of the alternative parameters were found to correlate significantly with predator swarm expansion rate to varying degrees, suggesting causal inter-relationships among these diverse predation measures. More broadly, our results highlight the importance of examining multiple parameters for thoroughly understanding the population biology of microbial predation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decomposing Predation: Testing for Parameters that Correlate with Predatory Performance by a Social Bacterium

Mendes‐Soares

Velicer

2012

Microb Ecol

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“…Fewer studies have been devoted to the ecology of the relatively elusive water shrews, either singly or in syntopy, and the ecology of N. anomalus is particularly poorly known (Dehnel, 1950; Wołk, 1976; Niethammer, 1977, 1978; Kraft & Pleyer, 1978; Illing, Illing & Kraft, 1981; Voesenek & van Bemmel, 1984; Kuvikova, 1985 a , 1987; DuPasquier & Cantoni, 1992; Rychlik, 1997). Apart from the work of Kuvikova (1985 b ) and Rychlik (2000, 2005), no field investigations of niche partitioning have been made of all four of these species living in syntopy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diets and coexistence in Neomys and Sorex shrews in Białowieża forest, eastern Poland

Churchfield

Rychlik

2006

Journal of Zoology

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Prey selection, food niche overlap and resource partitioning were investigated in semi‐aquatic Neomys fodiens and Neomys anomalus and terrestrial Sorex araneus and Sorex minutus coexisting in marshland in Białowieża Forest, eastern Poland. Evidence of prey selectivity was found but high levels of overlap, particularly in prey size, reflected the abundance of invertebrates in field samples. Despite similarities in diets between all four species, evidence of niche differentiation was found in terms of foraging mode and prey composition. Neomys ate predominantly terrestrial prey but 20% of prey of N. fodiens was aquatic (compared with 11% in N. anomalus), with Asellus being the dominant aquatic prey. Sorex shrews were exclusively terrestrial in foraging mode. All species ate predominantly small prey (≤5 mm) and these were most abundant in field samples, but small prey were most important for S. minutus. Pairwise comparisons suggested that the most important promoter of resource partitioning was body size, indicating different foraging modes. Food niche overlap was least between species most dissimilar in size. The tiny S. minutus was predominantly an epigeal forager on small Araneae, Opiliones and Coleoptera; the medium‐sized S. araneus fed extensively on Lumbricidae and Coleoptera; and the large, semi‐aquatic Neomys fed on different amounts of freshwater prey in addition to terrestrial prey. Our results support the prediction that microhabitat selection among these species indicates differentiation in foraging mode.

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“…They also utilize similar habitat and food resources, suggesting that they require effective mechanisms to minimize competition in order to coexist (Pucek 1981; Spitzenberger 1990; Churchfield 1991; Kirkland 1991; Rychlik and Zwolak 2005). For example, habitat selection by the two species in Białowieża forest overlapped by about 90% (Rychlik 2000), their circadian activities by 99% (Rychlik 2005) and their diets by more than 80% (Churchfield and Rychlik 2006). Their similarity, their share habitats and their common resources suggest that the two species ought to respond similarly to selection when they are found sympatrically in a common environment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Response to environmental factors and competition: skull, mandible and tooth shapes in Polish water shrews (Neomys, Soricidae, Mammalia)

Rychlik

Ramalhinho

Polly

2006

Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research

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Environmental factors and competition in closely related sympatric species may result in character displacement or phenotypic convergence. We studied the effects of sympatry on size and shape of the skulls, mandibles and molars in two species of water shrew, Neomys anomalus and Neomys fodiens. We studied populations from six localities in Poland, three where the species are sympatric (Pomorze, Białowie_ za, and Bieszczady Mts) and three where only N. fodiens is found. We studied shape and size using geometrical landmarks. The three morphological structures that we studied are expected to respond differently to environment and competition, because they are controlled by different numbers of gene loci, have different developmental patterns and different functional roles. We found strong evidence that shape in all three structures was influenced by local environment and that both species responded to geoclimatic factors in the same way. Indirect evidence suggests that the parallel response of the two species is likely to be ecophenotypic in the case of skulls and mandibles but selective in molars. We found no evidence for character displacement in either size or shape, although significant differences were found between the two species as a whole, and within species between localities. Not only was there any evidence for displacement but also the species were actually more similar when they occurred in sympatry, probably because of the similar ecophenotypic responses to their shared environment.

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Overlap of temporal niches among four sympatric species of shrews

Cited by 33 publications

References 39 publications

Decomposing Predation: Testing for Parameters that Correlate with Predatory Performance by a Social Bacterium

Decomposing Predation: Testing for Parameters that Correlate with Predatory Performance by a Social Bacterium

Diets and coexistence in Neomys and Sorex shrews in Białowieża forest, eastern Poland

Response to environmental factors and competition: skull, mandible and tooth shapes in Polish water shrews (Neomys, Soricidae, Mammalia)

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