Assessing the potential for intraguild predation among taxonomically disparate micro-carnivores: marsupials and arthropods.

ABSTRACT: Interspecific competition may occur when resources are limited, and is often most intense between animals in the same ecological guild. Intraguild predation (IGP) is a distinctive form of interference competition, where a dominant predator selectively kills subordinate rivals to gain increased access to resources. However, before IGP can be identified, organisms must be confirmed as members of the same guild and occur together in space and time. The lesser hairy-footed dunnart (Sminthopsis youngsoni, Dasyuridae) is a generalist marsupial insectivore in arid Australia, but consumes wolf spiders (Lycosa spp., Lycosidae) disproportionately often relative to their availability. Here, we test the hypothesis that this disproportionate predation is a product of frequent encou

SUBMITTER: Potter TI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5990775 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature