Trophic niche similarities of sympatric Turdus thrushes determined by fecal contents, stable isotopes, and bipartite network approaches.

ABSTRACT: An ecological niche has been defined as an n-dimensional hypervolume formed by conditions and resources that species need to survive, grow, and reproduce. In practice, such niche dimensions are measurable and describe how species share resources, which has been thought to be a crucial mechanism for coexistence and a major driver of broad biodiversity patterns. Here, we investigate resource partitioning and trophic interactions of three sympatric, phylogenetically related and morphologically similar species of thrushes (Turdus spp.). Based on one year of data collected in southern Brazil, we investigated niche partitioning using three approaches: diet and trophic niche assessed by fecal analysis, diet and niche estimated by stable isotopes in blood and mixing models, and bipar

SUBMITTER: Bosenbecker C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7487231 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature