The Measurement of Niche Overlap and Some Relatives

Hurlbert, Stuart H.

doi:10.2307/1936632

Cited by 1,157 publications

(826 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Similarly, for data related to morphology, we used the indices and the Euclidean distance between each pair of specimens of each of the species studied. In order to determine the trophic niche breadth, the Standardized Levins Index was applied, using the expression proposed by Hurlbert (1978):…”

Section: Diet and Assessment Of Intraspecific Morphological Patternsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecomorphology and use of food resources: inter- and intraspecific relationships of fish fauna associated with macrophyte stands

2016

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Based on the form-function interaction and its consequence to niche exploitation by fish species, the study aimed to identify ecomorphological patterns and to investigate the possibility of explaining the trophic niche breadth using the pattern of intraspecific ecomorphological diversity. We tested the following hypotheses: i) the morphology explains variations in diet among fish species; ii) the intraspecific ecomorphological diversity is related to the breadth of the trophic niche explored by the species, so that species that feed on a wider range of resources have greater variation in body shape compared to those specialized in resource consumption. Fish were collected in stands of the aquatic macrophytes Eichhornia azurea and Eichhornia crassipes in lentic environments of the Upper Paraná River floodplain, Brazil. Two major trends were observed in the morphological space: fish with body shapes adapted to explore the substrate and others with a design that facilitates the capture of food items in more structured habitats. The relationship of diet with body shape was confirmed by significant relationships between matrices of trophic and morphological distances, providing evidence that morphology is related to interspecific variations in the use of trophic resources. However, the ranges of morphological and intraspecific trophic variations were not significantly related, rejecting the second hypothesis about the relationship between intraspecific ecomorphological diversity and trophic niche breadth. The morphological characteristics often have multiple ecological roles, which could result in trade-off among these functions. Thus, fish with highly specialized morphology may show specialist feeding or even generalist habit, because in this case some resources may be difficult to exploit, even by a specialist. Species with low and high morphological diversity demonstrated narrow trophic niche and the availability of resources may have been essential for consumption. Therefore, species morphology is related to the use of food resources and ecomorphology can be considered an important tool for the prediction of the exploited niche space by species in assemblages. However it is not possible to predict if species with greater intraspecific morphological diversification indeed have wider niche, since the abundance or scarcity of the available food resources may interfere with trophic niche breadth.Baseado na interação entre forma e função e suas consequências para exploração do nicho pelas espécies, o objetivo deste estudo foi identificar padrões de variação ecomorfológica e investigar se a amplitude de nicho trófico pode ser explicada pelo padrão de diversificação ecomorfológica intraespecífica. Assim, testaram-se as hipóteses: i) a morfologia explica as variações na dieta entre as espécies de peixes ii) a diversificação morfológica intraespecífica está relacionada com a amplitude do nicho trófico explorado pelas espécies, de modo que, espécies que se alimentam de maior variedade de recursos apresentam maior variação ...

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Section: Diet and Assessment Of Intraspecific Morphological Patternsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecomorphology and use of food resources: inter- and intraspecific relationships of fish fauna associated with macrophyte stands

2016

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“…2) (Hurlbert 1978). For the calculation of niche breadth, all potential food sources in the habitat were considered.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Limited flexibility in resource use in a coral reef grazer foraging on seasonally changing algal communities

2010

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Feeding ecology of three life phases of the parrotfish Scarus ferrugineus was studied on a southern Red Sea fringing reef by comparing availability and consumption of benthic algae during the monsoon hot and cool seasons. Dominant biota covering dead carbonate substrates were in decreasing order of importance: turfs on endoliths, turfs on crustose corallines, and crustose corallines. On the reef crest and shallow fore reef, composition of the biota changed seasonally. Cover of turfs on endoliths and turfs on crustose corallines was higher during the hot season, while crustose corallines and macroalgae (only on reef crest) increased during the cool season. Biota in the deep fore reef did not show seasonal variation. All life phases used similar resources and showed selective feeding in all zones. Turfs on endoliths, followed by turfs on crustose corallines, was the primary feeding substrate. These two sources represented over 92% of bites during both seasons. Crustose corallines, macroalgae, and living corals were negligible components being strongly avoided at all zones and seasons. Resource use varied seasonally on the reef crest and shallow fore reef, while it remained unchanged on the deep fore reef. Turfs on endoliths were consistently preferred in both seasons but their contribution increased from 45% in the cool to 70% of bites in the hot season. Electivity for turfs on crustose corallines shifted from random feeding in the hot (27% of bites) to selection in the cool season (47% of bites). Feeding pattern changed diurnally with more bites taken from crustose corallines and turfs on crustose corallines during morning. During the rest of the day, bites from turfs on endoliths predominate. S. ferrugineus shows limited capacity to exploit seasonal increases in the biomass of foliose and canopy forming macroalgae, despite indications of energetic limitation during the cool season.

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“…A partir de los valores obtenidos de IIR por intervalo de tallas y época del año, se calculó la amplitud de la dieta (Bi), utilizando el índice estandarizado de Levin (Hurlbert, 1978). Este índice asume valores de cero a uno.…”

Section: Methodsunclassified

“…With the IIR values obtained per size range and time of year, the diet breadth ( Bi) was calculated using Levin's standardized index (Hurlbert, 1978). This index takes values from zero to one.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trophic spectrum of the california kingcroaker menticirrhus undulatus from ojo de liebre lagoon, baja california sur, mexico

2000

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Recibido en octubre de 1999; aceptado en agosto de 2000 RESUMENSe analizaron los hábitos alimentarios de 112 organismos de la berrugata californiana Menticirrhus undulatus, capturados en la Laguna Ojo de Liebre, Baja California Sur (México), en seis campañas de muestreos bimestrales de enero a noviembre de 1995. La berrugata se capturó en todos los muestreos, con mayor abundancia en el mes de julio. El índice de importancia relativa indicó que M. undulatus consume un total de 14 especies, siendo los poliquetos del género Marphysa spp. (51.75%), el pez Ilypnus gilberti (31.84%) y restos de moluscos (13.91%) las presas dominantes. De acuerdo con el índice de Levin, la berrugata es un depredador carnívoro de conducta especialista, que incide preferentemente sobre la fauna bentónica.Palabras clave: Menticirrhus undulatus, hábitos alimentarios, Reserva de La Biósfera El Vizcaíno, Laguna Ojo de Liebre, México. ABSTRACTA total of 112 stomach contents of the California kingcroaker Menticirrhus undulatus from Ojo de Liebre Lagoon, Baja California Sur (Mexico), were analyzed. The samples were taken from January to November 1995. This species occurred all year round, with highest abundance in July. The index of relative importance indicated that M. undulatus consumed a total of 14 species, and the dominant prey were polychaetes of the genus Marphysa spp. (51.75%), the fish Ilypnus gilberti (31.84%) and mollusk

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The Measurement of Niche Overlap and Some Relatives

Cited by 1,157 publications

References 16 publications

Ecomorphology and use of food resources: inter- and intraspecific relationships of fish fauna associated with macrophyte stands

Ecomorphology and use of food resources: inter- and intraspecific relationships of fish fauna associated with macrophyte stands

Limited flexibility in resource use in a coral reef grazer foraging on seasonally changing algal communities

Trophic spectrum of the california kingcroaker menticirrhus undulatus from ojo de liebre lagoon, baja california sur, mexico

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