Food for everyone: Differential feeding habits of cryptic bat species inferred from DNA metabarcoding.

ABSTRACT: Ecological theory postulates that niches of co-occurring species must differ along some ecological dimensions in order to allow their stable coexistence. Yet, many biological systems challenge this competitive exclusion principle. Insectivorous bats from the Northern Hemisphere typically form local assemblages of multiple species sharing highly similar functional traits and pertaining to identical feeding guilds. Although their trophic niche can be accessed with unprecedented details using genetic identification of prey, the underlying mechanisms of resource partitioning remain vastly unexplored. Here, we studied the differential diet of three closely-related bat species of the genus Plecotus in sympatry and throughout their entire breeding season using DNA metabarcoding. Even at such a sm

SUBMITTER: Andriollo T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8518853 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature