Size-Mediated Trophic Interactions in Two Syntopic Forest Salamanders
Exploitative competition and interference competition differ in the way they affect re-source availability for competitors: in the former, organisms reduce resource availability for the competitors; in the latter, one organism actively prevents the competitor from accessing resources, independently...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Animals |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/8/1281 |
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| author | Andrea Costa Giacomo Rosa Sebastiano Salvidio |
| author_facet | Andrea Costa Giacomo Rosa Sebastiano Salvidio |
| author_sort | Andrea Costa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Exploitative competition and interference competition differ in the way they affect re-source availability for competitors: in the former, organisms reduce resource availability for the competitors; in the latter, one organism actively prevents the competitor from accessing resources, independently of their availability. Our aim is to test for the presence of foraging competition in two forest-dwelling salamanders in Italy: <i>Speleomantes strinatii</i> and <i>Salamandrina perspicillata</i>. We also aim at testing for size-mediated competition. We obtained stomach contents from 191 sampled individuals by means of stomach flushing at 8 sampling sites where both species occur. We focused our analysis on the core prey taxa shared by both species: Collembola and Acarina. We found that the foraging activity of <i>S. perspicillata</i> is positively affected by body size and negatively affected by potential competitor’s activity on the forest floor during the sampling, which also significantly weakened the positive relationship with body size. These results suggest the presence of an interference/interaction occurring between the two species and affecting the foraging activity of <i>S. perspicillata</i>. This competitive interaction is size mediated and configured as interference competition rather than exploitative competition. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T05:18:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7e1fb8741b10453bb0d65158a5d52fc3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T05:18:59Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-7e1fb8741b10453bb0d65158a5d52fc32023-11-17T17:59:31ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152023-04-01138128110.3390/ani13081281Size-Mediated Trophic Interactions in Two Syntopic Forest SalamandersAndrea Costa0Giacomo Rosa1Sebastiano Salvidio2Department of Earth, Environment and Life Sciences (DISTAV), University of Genova, Corso Europa 26, 16132 Genova, ItalyDepartment of Earth, Environment and Life Sciences (DISTAV), University of Genova, Corso Europa 26, 16132 Genova, ItalyDepartment of Earth, Environment and Life Sciences (DISTAV), University of Genova, Corso Europa 26, 16132 Genova, ItalyExploitative competition and interference competition differ in the way they affect re-source availability for competitors: in the former, organisms reduce resource availability for the competitors; in the latter, one organism actively prevents the competitor from accessing resources, independently of their availability. Our aim is to test for the presence of foraging competition in two forest-dwelling salamanders in Italy: <i>Speleomantes strinatii</i> and <i>Salamandrina perspicillata</i>. We also aim at testing for size-mediated competition. We obtained stomach contents from 191 sampled individuals by means of stomach flushing at 8 sampling sites where both species occur. We focused our analysis on the core prey taxa shared by both species: Collembola and Acarina. We found that the foraging activity of <i>S. perspicillata</i> is positively affected by body size and negatively affected by potential competitor’s activity on the forest floor during the sampling, which also significantly weakened the positive relationship with body size. These results suggest the presence of an interference/interaction occurring between the two species and affecting the foraging activity of <i>S. perspicillata</i>. This competitive interaction is size mediated and configured as interference competition rather than exploitative competition.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/8/1281competitionforagingdietsalamanderspecies interactioninterference competition |
| spellingShingle | Andrea Costa Giacomo Rosa Sebastiano Salvidio Size-Mediated Trophic Interactions in Two Syntopic Forest Salamanders Animals competition foraging diet salamander species interaction interference competition |
| title | Size-Mediated Trophic Interactions in Two Syntopic Forest Salamanders |
| title_full | Size-Mediated Trophic Interactions in Two Syntopic Forest Salamanders |
| title_fullStr | Size-Mediated Trophic Interactions in Two Syntopic Forest Salamanders |
| title_full_unstemmed | Size-Mediated Trophic Interactions in Two Syntopic Forest Salamanders |
| title_short | Size-Mediated Trophic Interactions in Two Syntopic Forest Salamanders |
| title_sort | size mediated trophic interactions in two syntopic forest salamanders |
| topic | competition foraging diet salamander species interaction interference competition |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/8/1281 |
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