Trophic niche partitioning in giant clams.

ABSTRACT: Ecosystems are influenced by competition for limited resources, a driver of niche partitioning. Over time, the emergence of novel traits facilitating new resource exploitation can reduce competition. However, additional layers of complexity, like symbiosis, complicate our understanding of the patterns shaping reef communities. Therefore, empirical evidence of niche partitioning reducing competition in symbiotic benthic communities is limited. Using a unique common garden experiment, we examined the nutritional strategies of six giant clam holobionts and characterized their symbiont assemblages. Variation in trophic strategies confirmed trophic niche partitioning, as species fell along a continuum from highly heterotrophic to highly autotrophic. Tridacna gigas and T. derasa, listed as criti

SUBMITTER: Guibert I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12789454 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature