Trophic relationships of sympatric small carnivores in fragmented landscapes of southern Brazil: niche overlap and potential for competition

Kasper, Carlos Benhur; Peters, Felipe Bortolotto; Christoff, Alexandre Uarth; Freitas, Thales Renato Ochotorena de

doi:10.1515/mammalia-2014-0126

Cited by 33 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 39 publications

(46 reference statements)

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“…This value is quite different from that found by Vieira & Port () and Kasper et al . (), probably because of the differences in taxonomic identification, because different levels of prey identification have a strong influence on this type of analysis (Greene & Jaksic, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative trophic ecology of two sympatric canids in the Brazilian Pampa

et al. 2018

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Studies on resource utilization by carnivores are essential to assess the role of the species in the ecosystem. These studies help us to understand the mechanisms that influence vertebrate community structure and the relationships between predators and prey. The aims of this study were to compare and describe the food habits of the sympatric Pampas fox (Lycalopex gymnocercus) and crab‐eating fox (Cerdocyon thous) in the Brazilian Pampa, and to evaluate the food niche overlap between them, and infer aspects of habitat preferences on the basis of their prey. For the diet analyses, 25 stomach contents of Pampas foxes and 33 of crab‐eating foxes were collected. We identified 80 prey items (49 for the Pampas fox and 63 for the crab‐eating fox) and grouped them into eight main categories. Mammals and invertebrates were the most frequent items in the diets of both canids, followed by fruits. The trophic niche breadth of the Pampas fox (Bsta = 0.56) was larger than that of the crab‐eating fox (Bsta = 0.47). The diet overlap between them was Ojk = 0.58. However, a PERMANOVA test showed that diets did not differ between species or season. Our results showed that both L. gymnocercus and C. thous had generalist diets, with a great diversity of prey, but based on similar main food items. Items that contributed the most to the diet of the Pampas fox were insects (Gryllotalpidae and Scarabaeidae) and cavies (Cavia aperea) and those that contributed the most to the diet of the crab‐eating fox were fruits of Syagrus romanzoffiana, beetles (Scarabaeidae), amphibians (Leptodactylus spp.) and cavies. This is the first study to describe and compare the food habits of these two species, occurring in sympatry in the Brazilian Pampa.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative trophic ecology of two sympatric canids in the Brazilian Pampa

et al. 2018

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“…Previous literature has reported great variation in niche breadth throughout the species distribution [ 25 , 41 – 51 ]. However, we must be careful when comparing these results as the level of prey taxonomic resolution varied greatly.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The proportion of each prey type was calculated through their relative volume estimated on a nine-point scale: 0 (absence), 1 (< 1%), 2 (1–5%), 3 (6–10%), 4 (11–25%), 5 (26–50%), 6 (51–75%), 7 (76–98%), and 8 (> 98%). For the niche overlap calculation, scores were converted to the midpoint of each percentage interval (1 = 0.5%, 2 = 3%, 3 = 8%, 4 = 18%, 5 = 38%, 6 = 63%, 7 = 87%, 8 = 99%), following Kruuk & Parish [ 23 ], Ray & Sunquist [ 24 ], and Kasper et al [ 25 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trophic ecology of sympatric small cats in the Brazilian Pampa

Migliorini

Peters²,

Favarini³

et al. 2018

PLoS ONE

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Information about resource partitioning among small cat species that live in sympatry in South America is fairly incomplete. Knowledge about feeding habits is essential for understanding the role of these predators in the environment, the impact on prey populations, and potential competition among themselves and with other carnivores. This study aimed to describe and compare the diet of four sympatric small cats in the grasslands of southern Brazil. We analysed the stomach contents of 37 Geoffroy’s cats (Leopardus geoffroyi), 27 margays (Leopardus wiedii), 14 pampas cats (Leopardus colocola), and 20 jaguarundis (Herpailurus yagouaroundi) obtained as road kill in the Brazilian Pampa in southern Brazil. Small mammals were the most representative class consumed by all cats, followed by Aves, Reptilia, and Amphibia. Some items, such as rodents Cavia aperea, Akodon sp., Oligoryzomys sp. and Passeriformes were consumed by all cat species. Niche overlap varied widely, from 10% (margay x jaguarundi) to 92% (jaguarundi x pampas cat). Niche breadth indicated that jaguarundi were the most specialized of the cats (Bsta = 0.24) in this region, with a diet closely associated to C. aperea. Margay consumed more items associated with arboreal behaviour than other cat species, but consumed more terrestrial items than arboreal ones. The pampas cat consumed mostly terrestrial species associated with open fields. Geoffroy’s cat consumed mammals found in a diversity of habitats, indicating high ecological flexibility. Species with more similarity in diet such as jaguarundi and pampas cat probably present temporal segregation in activity. In conclusion, despite their habitat and diet similarities, these four species explore distinct microhabitats by foraging different prey groups, what favor them to live in sympatry.

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“…Diet differences may favor coexistence in sympatric species (Kronfeld-Schor & Dayan, 1999;Luo & Fox, 1996;Shiels et al, 2013) and are also characteristic of other systematic groups of mammals, for example, carnivores (Kasper, Peters, Christoff, & de Freitas, 2016).…”

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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

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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).

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Trophic relationships of sympatric small carnivores in fragmented landscapes of southern Brazil: niche overlap and potential for competition

Cited by 33 publications

References 39 publications

Comparative trophic ecology of two sympatric canids in the Brazilian Pampa

Comparative trophic ecology of two sympatric canids in the Brazilian Pampa

Trophic ecology of sympatric small cats in the Brazilian Pampa

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

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