Enhancing dietary specialization metrics in observational studies of wild animal populations
Abstract Studies of intraspecific dietary variation can greatly enrich our view of a species’ niche and role in the ecosystem, particularly when species with broad diets are found to be composed of generalist and specialist individuals. However, the current framework for quantifying dietary speciali...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2020-09-01
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| Series: | Ecosphere |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3255 |
| _version_ | 1828811594893623296 |
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| author | Caitlin E. Andrews John G. Ewen Rose Thorogood |
| author_facet | Caitlin E. Andrews John G. Ewen Rose Thorogood |
| author_sort | Caitlin E. Andrews |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Studies of intraspecific dietary variation can greatly enrich our view of a species’ niche and role in the ecosystem, particularly when species with broad diets are found to be composed of generalist and specialist individuals. However, the current framework for quantifying dietary specialization leaves certain standards unformalized and is susceptible to overestimating specialization when there are few repeated observations per individual, as is often the case in observational studies of wild populations. Here, we use the hihi (Notiomystis cincta), a threatened New Zealand passerine, as a case study for demonstrating how existing statistical tools can be applied to strengthen the dietary specialization framework. First, we assess whether the reliability of common dietary measures can be improved through Bayesian adjustments and by using rarefaction to compare uncertainty levels of metrics calculated from different sample sizes. As diet links closely to environmental factors, we also demonstrate how adding phenological data and habitat assessments to standard protocols can help validate our dietary measures as evidence for resource selection rather than random foraging. Finally, in light of our finding that diet predicts survival in hihi, we discuss the utility of dietary specialization for elucidating broader behavioral syndromes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T09:30:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ba83276b21bc4e758dc109f359d95a01 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2150-8925 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T09:30:22Z |
| publishDate | 2020-09-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecosphere |
| spelling | doaj.art-ba83276b21bc4e758dc109f359d95a012022-12-22T00:28:53ZengWileyEcosphere2150-89252020-09-01119n/an/a10.1002/ecs2.3255Enhancing dietary specialization metrics in observational studies of wild animal populationsCaitlin E. Andrews0John G. Ewen1Rose Thorogood2Department of Zoology University of Cambridge Downing Street CambridgeCB2 3EJUKInstitute of Zoology Zoological Society of London Regent’s Park LondonNW1 4RYUKDepartment of Zoology University of Cambridge Downing Street CambridgeCB2 3EJUKAbstract Studies of intraspecific dietary variation can greatly enrich our view of a species’ niche and role in the ecosystem, particularly when species with broad diets are found to be composed of generalist and specialist individuals. However, the current framework for quantifying dietary specialization leaves certain standards unformalized and is susceptible to overestimating specialization when there are few repeated observations per individual, as is often the case in observational studies of wild populations. Here, we use the hihi (Notiomystis cincta), a threatened New Zealand passerine, as a case study for demonstrating how existing statistical tools can be applied to strengthen the dietary specialization framework. First, we assess whether the reliability of common dietary measures can be improved through Bayesian adjustments and by using rarefaction to compare uncertainty levels of metrics calculated from different sample sizes. As diet links closely to environmental factors, we also demonstrate how adding phenological data and habitat assessments to standard protocols can help validate our dietary measures as evidence for resource selection rather than random foraging. Finally, in light of our finding that diet predicts survival in hihi, we discuss the utility of dietary specialization for elucidating broader behavioral syndromes.https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3255dietary specializationecological nicheforagingindividual differencesintraspecific behavioral variationniche differentiation |
| spellingShingle | Caitlin E. Andrews John G. Ewen Rose Thorogood Enhancing dietary specialization metrics in observational studies of wild animal populations Ecosphere dietary specialization ecological niche foraging individual differences intraspecific behavioral variation niche differentiation |
| title | Enhancing dietary specialization metrics in observational studies of wild animal populations |
| title_full | Enhancing dietary specialization metrics in observational studies of wild animal populations |
| title_fullStr | Enhancing dietary specialization metrics in observational studies of wild animal populations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Enhancing dietary specialization metrics in observational studies of wild animal populations |
| title_short | Enhancing dietary specialization metrics in observational studies of wild animal populations |
| title_sort | enhancing dietary specialization metrics in observational studies of wild animal populations |
| topic | dietary specialization ecological niche foraging individual differences intraspecific behavioral variation niche differentiation |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3255 |
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