Niche overlap and resource partitioning among five sympatric bufonids (Anura, Bufonidae) from northeastern Argentina
01 Jun 2009-Phyllomedusa: Journal of Herpetology (Melopsittacus Publicações Científicas)-Vol. 8, Iss: 1, pp 27-39
TL;DR: Studying the diet behaviors and trophic parameters of sympatric species provides important data for understanding the community and for the development of conservation guidelines.
Abstract: Niche overlap and resource partitioning among five sympatric bufonids (Anura, Bufonidae) from northeastern Argentina. The niche overlap and resource partitioning were analyzed for five sympatric bufonids from Northeastern Argenti- na: Rhinella schneideri, R. bergi, R. fernandezae, R. granulosa, and Melanophryniscus cupreuscapularis. The primary objectives were to analyze the diet and pattern of coexistence relative to the microhabitats among species. The bufonids, which are primarily terrestrial, exhibited a preference for small, hard prey such as formicids or coleopterans. The smallest species preferably consumed ants, while R. schneideri preferred beetles. Significant differences were detected for the diets of these five species. In addition, significant overlap in the trophic niche was noted for all species except between R. granulosa and R. schneideri. Studying the diet behaviors and trophic parameters of sympatric species provides important data for understanding the community and for the development of conservation guidelines.
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TL;DR: Vaira et al. as mentioned in this paper presented a study of the relationship between Bio-Geography and Ingenieria at the Instituto de Bio and Geociencias del NOA.
Abstract: Fil: Vaira, Marcos. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy. Facultad de Ingenieria. Centro de Investigaciones Basicas y Aplicadas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales. Museo de Ciencias Naturales. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA; Argentina
140 citations
01 Jan 2011
TL;DR: The diet of Rhinella schneideri is described based on the analysis of the stomach contents of 18 specimens from an area within the Cerrado, Central Brazil, finding 842 items belonging to 11 prey categories, including the plant material category.
Abstract: This study describes the diet of Rhinella schneideri based on the analysis of the stomach contents of 18 specimens from an area within the Cerrado, Central Brazil. We found 842 items belonging to 11 prey categories, including the plant material category. The most important prey categories for R. schneideri were Insect larvae, Coleopteran and Formicidae. Numerical and volumetric niche breadths of R. schneideri were 3.35 and 1.00, respectively. According to its diverse diet and abundance, R. schneideri may be considered a generalist and opportunist species.
31 citations
TL;DR: The main goals of this study were to determine the richness and diversity of helminth parasites of Rhinella fernandezae at the component and infracommunity levels and determine the ecological implications of different biotic and abiotic factors.
Abstract: The main goals of this study were to determine the richness and diversity of helminth parasites of Rhinella fernandezae at the component and infracommunity levels and determine the ecological implications of different biotic and abiotic factors. Specimens were collected near the city of Corrientes, Corrientes Province, Argentina. Prevalence of infection was 94% in the specimens examined (n = 65). The helminth component community in R. fernandezae in this area was comprised a total of 22 species. Of all helminth species, only three (Catadiscus inopinatus, Cosmocerca podicipinus and C. parva) were dominant (importance value: I > 1.0) in the community. The most abundant species were B. tetracotyloides (d = 0.43) among the larvae and C. podicipinus (d = 0.09) among adult worms. At the infracommunity level, the mean individual species richness (2.28 ± 1.48) (mean ± SD) was no more than 3 helminth species per infected host; the diversity and equitability of helminths were 0.23 ± 0.21 and 0.48 ± 0.38, respectively. The host body size was the main factor in determining the parasite abundance. Species richness was significantly and positively correlated with host body size. The parasite helminth species predominantly showed an overdispersed pattern of distribution. Helminth species showed two negative and significant pairs of covariation and one significant pair of association (P < 0.05). R. fernandezae has a wide variety of parasites relating to the host microhabitat, mobility and feeding habits.
27 citations
Cites background from "Niche overlap and resource partitio..."
...This burrowing toad has an intermediate (between generalist and specialist) diet type dominated by ants and coleopterans, and employs an actively foraging predatory strategy (Duré et al. 2009; Sanchez et al. 2010)....
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TL;DR: This study performs a global-scale literature analysis to build up a database of interactions between anuran communities and their preys, from a wide range of geographical areas, using a network approach and finds that anuran–prey networks are not nested, exhibit low complementary specialization and modularity and high connectance when compared to other types of networks.
Abstract: Life on Earth is supported by an infinite number of interactions among organisms. Species interactions in these networks are influenced by latitude, evolutionary history and species traits. We performed a global-scale literature analysis to build up a database of interactions between anuran communities and their preys, from a wide range of geographical areas, using a network approach. For this purpose, we compiled a total of 55 weighted anuran–prey interaction networks, 39 located in the tropics and 16 in temperate areas. We tested the influence of latitude, as well as anuran taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic richness on network metrics. We found that anuran–prey networks are not nested, exhibit low complementary specialization and modularity and high connectance when compared to other types of networks. The main effects on network metrics were related to latitude, followed by anuran taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic richness, a pattern similar to the emerging in mutualistic networks. Our study is the first integrated analysis of the structural patterns in anuran–prey antagonistic interaction networks in different parts of the world. We suggest that different processes, mediated mainly by latitude, are modeling the architecture of anuran–prey networks across the globe.
22 citations
27 Jan 2017
TL;DR: The results indicate similarities in the diet composition and foraging behavior of P. lisei and P. gracilis, which have similar trophic niche breadth and a high diet overlap.
Abstract: Comparative studies of the diet of ecologically and phylogenetically close-related species assist in understanding the evolutionary processes underlying feeding specialization. The frogs Physalaemus lisei (Braun’s Dwarf Frog) and P. gracilis (Graceful Dwarf Frog) are good models for comparative diet studies because they occur in sympatry in several forest environments of Brazil. In this study we evaluated the gastrointestinal content of 83 individuals of these two species. We registered 12 prey categories in the diet of P. gracilis , and 19 in the diet of P. lisei. Formicidae was the most important prey category in the diet of both species, followed by Coleoptera and Araneae. Despite the high importance of ants in the diet of both species, as assessed by the Index of Relative Importance (IRI = 6469.9 for P. gracilis and 4522.0 for P. lisei ), Coleoptera presented the highest volumetric contribution. Both species presented a similar trophic niche breadth and a high diet overlap (O jk = 0.98). Our results indicate similarities in the diet composition and foraging behavior of P. lisei and P. gracilis .
20 citations
Cites background from "Niche overlap and resource partitio..."
...As we observed in the diet of P. gracilis and P. lisei, Coleoptera and Araneae were also considered important prey to several Neotropical species of Hylidae (Miranda et al., 2006; Rosa et al., 2011), Bufonidae (Duré et al., 2009) and other Leptodactylidae (Maneyro et al., 2004; Oliveira et al., 2015)....
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...…we observed in the diet of P. gracilis and P. lisei, Coleoptera and Araneae were also considered important prey to several Neotropical species of Hylidae (Miranda et al., 2006; Rosa et al., 2011), Bufonidae (Duré et al., 2009) and other Leptodactylidae (Maneyro et al., 2004; Oliveira et al., 2015)....
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..., 2011), Bufonidae (Duré et al., 2009) and other Leptodactylidae (Maneyro et al....
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References
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TL;DR: From data demonstrating habitat specificity, it is concluded that Australian desert lizards recognize more habitats than North American Desert lizards.
Abstract: From data demonstrating habitat specificity, it is concluded that Australian desert lizards recognize more habitats than North American desert lizards. The large amount of environmental heterogeneity and intimate mixing of habitats in Australia allow many more lizard species to coexist there than in North America. An interpretive hypothesis for lizard speciation by means or habitats fluctuating in time and space is proposed. See full-text article at JSTOR
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"Niche overlap and resource partitio..." refers background in this paper
...The degree of niche differentiation among species in the same trophic level depends on many factors, been prey availability one of the most relevant (Pianka 1969, Schoener 1974, 1989)....
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"Niche overlap and resource partitio..." refers background in this paper
...In some cases, the importance of ants in the diet of bufonids was noted (Filipello and Crespo 1994, Campeny and Montori 1995, Lajmanovich 1995, Parmelee 1999, Santana and Phyllomedusa - 8(1), July 2009 Juncá 2007)....
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TL;DR: The feeding niche ofColostethus stepheni changes during ontogeny, and it is found that small individuals eat small arthropods, principally mites and collembolans, and larger frogs eat bigger prey of other types.
Abstract: The feeding niche ofColostethus stepheni changes during ontogeny. Small individuals eat small arthropods, principally mites and collembolans, and larger frogs eat bigger prey of other types. The shift in prey types is not a passive effect of selection for bigger prey. There is a strong relationship between electivity for prey types and frog size, independent of electivity for prey size. Four indices of general activity during foraging (number of movements, velocity, total area utilized and time spent moving), which are associated with electivity for prey types in adult frogs and lizards, did not predict the ontogenetic change in the diet ofC. stepheni. Apparently, the behavioral changes that cause the ontogenetic change inC. stepheni are more subtle than shifts in general activity during foraging. Studies of niche partitioning in communities of anurans that do not take into consideration ontogenetic changes in diet and seasonal changes in the size structures of populations present a partial and possibly erroneous picture of the potential interactions among species.
100 citations
"Niche overlap and resource partitio..." refers result in this paper
...This consumption of small sized prey such as mites, collembolans, and ants was also observed in other studies on bufonids and dendrobatids (Lima and Moreira 1993, Flowers and Graves 1995, Toft 1995)....
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Journal Article•
TL;DR: It is tentatively concluded that a narrow diet spe- cializing on ants and mites is a derived trait and that a generalist or opportunistic diet is an ancestral trait in the Dendrobatidae.
Abstract: Using the family of poison-dart frogs (Dendrobatidae), this study investigates the hypothesis that a trait should evolve to become more specialized: i.e., that diets should evolve to become narrower. I propose and then test a specific hypothesis that specialist diets evolved from generalist diets in the Dendrobatidae, by explicitly defining "specialist" in the context of the foraging ecology of these frogs and by following guidelines for the comparative method proposed by Harvey and Pagel. Overall, the genera judged to be more basal in the phylogeny (Colostethus, Epipedobates, Phyllobates) had wider and more generalist diets, in contrast to taxa higher in the clade (Dendro- bates, Minyobates) which had narrower and more specialist diets. However, some genera (Phyl- lobates, Minyobates) did not fit neatly into this sequence, exhibiting wider and narrower diets, respectively, than expected based on other traits. I tentatively conclude that a narrow diet spe- cializing on ants and mites is a derived trait and that a generalist or opportunistic diet is an ancestral trait in the Dendrobatidae. Moreover, suites of traits related to diet and foraging suggest that foraging ecology may have been a significant force driving radiation of the family at the generic level.
86 citations
"Niche overlap and resource partitio..." refers result in this paper
...This consumption of small sized prey such as mites, collembolans, and ants was also observed in other studies on bufonids and dendrobatids (Lima and Moreira 1993, Flowers and Graves 1995, Toft 1995)....
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