Academic Journal

Patterns of variation in dietary composition among four populations of Alpine salamanders (Salamandra atra prenjensis)

التفاصيل البيبلوغرافية
العنوان: Patterns of variation in dietary composition among four populations of Alpine salamanders (Salamandra atra prenjensis)
المؤلفون: Sunje, Emina, Courant, Julien, Vesnic, Adi, Koren, Toni, Bilela, Lada Lukic, Van Damme, Raoul
المصدر: 0173-5373 ; Amphibia-reptilia
سنة النشر: 2022
المجموعة: IRUA - Institutional Repository van de Universiteit Antwerpen
مصطلحات موضوعية: Biology
الوصف: In this paper we studied the diet in four allopatric populations of alpine salamanders in the Dinarides (Salamandra atra prenjensis). Food consumption was assessed by stomach flushing while food availability by pitfall traps and netting. We aimed to: (i) assess the realized dietary niche, (ii) investigate prey preferences, (ii) explore individual specialization, clustering and nestedness. All populations have an equally wide dietary span that is among the largest reported for terrestrial salamanders. On the other hand, the amount of ingested prey is rather low compared to other salamander species; the quantity of consumed prey did not differ among populations but younger individuals fed more than adults. Food composition somewhat differed among populations but not among sex/age classes. In all four populations, the bulk of diet consisted of beetles, spiders, snails and millipedes; except for beetles, such prey was also preffered together with centipedes and isopods. For most of the prey categories, the direction of the electivity indices was the same across populations. In none of the populations a nested pattern in the interindividual subdivision of dietary resources was registered. However, indications for individual specialization and modularity were observed disclosing that the broad niche of populations is composed of smaller individual niches that cluster along the dietary axis. Overall, the four populations have very similar structural characteristics of the dietary niche and there is little evidence for local dietary differentiation probably due to the absence of drivers for change.
نوع الوثيقة: article in journal/newspaper
اللغة: English
Relation: info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/isi/000923284600002
الاتاحة: https://hdl.handle.net/10067/1943920151162165141
https://repository.uantwerpen.be/docstore/d:irua:16606
Rights: info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
رقم الانضمام: edsbas.2C8BA3A7
قاعدة البيانات: BASE