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35 results for “individual specialization”
Individual dietary specialization in a generalist bee varies across populations but has no effect on the richness of associated microbial communities
<p><span></span></p> <p>Despite the increasingly documented occurrence of individual specialization, the relationship between individual consumer interactions and diet-related microbial communities in wild populations is still unclear. Using data from nests of the bee <em>Ceratina australensis</em> from three different wild populations, we combine metabarcoding and network approaches to explore the existence of individual variation in resource use within and across populations, and whether dietary specialization affects the richness of pollen-associated microbes. We reveal the existence of marked dietary specialization. In the most specialized population, we also show that individuals' diet breadth was positively related to the richness of fungi, but not bacteria. Overall, individual specialization appeared to have a weak or negligible effect on the microbial richness of nests, suggesting that different mechanisms beyond environmental transmission may be at play regarding microbial acquisition in wild bees.</p>
Isotopic niche partitioning and individual specialization in an Arctic raptor guild
<p>Intra- and inter-specific resource partitioning within predator communities is a fundamental component of trophic ecology, and one proposed mechanism for how populations partition resources is through individual niche variation. The Niche Variation Hypothesis (NVH) predicts that inter-individual trait variation leads to functional trade-offs in foraging efficiency, resulting in populations composed of individual dietary specialists. The degree to which niche specialization persists within a population is plastic and responsive to fluctuating resource availability. We quantified niche overlap and tested the NVH within an Arctic raptor guild, focusing on three species that employ different foraging strategies: golden eagles (generalists); gyrfalcons (facultative specialists); and rough-legged hawks (specialists). Tundra ecosystems exhibit cyclic populations of arvicoline rodents (lemmings and voles), providing a unique system in which to examine predator diet in response to interannual fluctuations in resource availability. Using blood δ13C and δ15N values from 189 raptor nestlings on Alaska's Seward Peninsula (2014–2019), we calculated isotopic niche width and used Bayesian stable isotope mixing models (BSIMMs) to characterize individual specialization and test the NVH. Nest-level specialization estimated from stable isotopes was strongly correlated with indices of specialization based on camera trap data. We observed a high degree of isotopic niche overlap between the three species and gyrfalcons displayed a positive relationship between individual specialization and population niche width on an interannual basis consistent with the NVH. Our findings suggest plasticity in niche specialization may reduce intra- and inter-specific resource competition under dynamic ecological conditions.</p>
Data for: Population niche width is driven by within-individual niche expansion and individual specialization in introduced brook trout in mountain lakes
<p><span>The width of a population's resource use niche is determined by individual diet breadth ("within-individual component") and the degree of niche partitioning between individuals ("between-individual component"). The balance between these two factors affects ecological stability and evolutionary trajectories, and may shift as ecological opportunity permits broader population niches. Lakes in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains vary in resource diversity for introduced brook trout (<em>Salvelinus fontinalis</em>) due to elevation, lake morphometry, and watershed features. We compared the relative contributions of within- and between-individual niche components to two measures of the dietary niches of thirteen populations of brook trout: prey taxonomic composition and prey size distribution. For both taxonomic and size diversity of fish diets, population niche width was positively related to both the within- and between-individual components. For taxonomic diversity, the two components increased in parallel, while for size diversity, the between-individual component became more important relative to the within-individual component in populations with the greatest niche widths. Our results support the Niche Variation Hypothesis that populations with broader niches are more heterogeneous among individuals and show that individual niche width and individual specialization can operate in parallel to expand the population niche.</span></p>
The interplay of resource availability and parent foraging strategies on juvenile sparrow individual specialization
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Individual dietary specialization in a generalist bee varies across populations but has no effect on the richness of associated microbial communities
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Isotopic niche partitioning and individual specialization in an Arctic raptor guild
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Data for: Population niche width is driven by within-individual niche expansion and individual specialization in introduced brook trout in mountain lakes
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Data from: Human food subsidies drive individual specialization and intrapopulation dietary differences in a generalist predator
<p>Generalist species can exhibit individual specialization (IS), where individuals adopt specialized foraging behaviors not attributable to age, sex, or social dominance. While IS increases with the diversity of available foraging resources (ecological opportunity), the potential impact of human food subsidies on ecological opportunity is unknown. We quantified the isotopic niche width of Steller's Jays (Cyanocitta stelleri), a synanthropic predator and dietary generalist, across a gradient of human land-use categories ranging from subsidized (park campgrounds) to unsubsidized (forest interior) habitats in a protected area in California. We asked (1) if isotopic niche width was better predicted by individual foraging behavior than sex, social dominance, or habitat category (indicating IS) and (2) if degree of IS exhibited by jays increased with the availability of human food subsidies. We characterized the isotopic niche space occupied by individual jays relative to the population using carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope values. Using linear models, we found that jay diet variation was best explained by individual behavior and habitat use rather than by sex or social dominance. While degree of IS increased with the availability of human foods, individual jays exhibited a variety of foraging behaviors in all habitats that were segregated by foraging stratum and use of human foods. Individual diet also determined the degree of specialization, as jays that specialized on human foods had the narrowest niche width regardless of habitat. Management efforts targeted at generalist wildlife exhibiting large degrees of IS should therefore account for the impact of food subsidies on foraging behavior. Approaches that involve aversive conditioning may fail where highly-specialized individuals are unlikely to encounter treatments, therefore we recommend simultaneous efforts to limit human food subsidies (e.g., information campaigns and improved containment of human food and food waste), and deployment across the largest possible extent of foraging microhabitats and substrates in order to ensure exposure of whole populations to emetic eggs.</p>
Individual diet specialization in the spider Tidarren haemorrhoidale (Bertkau, 1880) (Theridiidae)
<p>Data on the article "Individual diet specialization in the spider <em>Tidarren haemorrhoidale</em> (Bertkau, 1880) (Theridiidae)". First column presents spider identification (Spider_ID), second column is prey taxa (Prey_ID), and the third is prey length in mm (Prey_length). The abstract of the article is available below. To use the dataset, cite the article available on Ethology (<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14390310">Ethology - Wiley Online Library</a>).<br> <br> Individual specialization (<em>IS</em>) in resource use is common within populations of several animal species because some individuals can be more efficient than others in obtaining specific food items. Spiders are usually classified as euryphagous predators, but broad diet of populations may result from many individuals specializing in capturing different types of prey. Empirical evidence supporting this pattern, however, is still scarce. In this study, we hypothesized that (1) the diet of individuals of <em>Tidarren haemorrhoidale </em>is more restricted than the population’s diet, and (2) individual diet restrictions are not determined by the spatial distribution of prey types. We collected prey remains of 74 webs of females in a conservation area of the Atlantic Forest. Our results indicated that <em>T. haemorrhoidale </em>could be considered an euryphagous predator because its diet comprised Opiliones, Diplopoda and eight orders of insects. However, spiders exhibited moderate and high degrees of <em>IS</em> for prey size and taxa, respectively. There was no modularity for both prey attributes in the food web, but there was a medium nestedness. Most individuals captured ants, but additional prey taxa were of different orders. There was no correlation between the dissimilarity of prey taxa and the distances between the webs, suggesting that <em>IS</em> did not occur based on the spatial distribution of their potential prey. The diversity of prey defensive strategies may induce spiders to perform specific behavioral routines after prey interception. If this occurs, cognitive constraints may limit their ability to use different capture routines efficiently. Our study supports the predictions of individual niche specialization theory for a euryphagous spider species and highlights the potential of spiders as a study model to investigate the underlying mechanisms.</p>
Possible niche compression and individual specialization in Pacific Arctic beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) from the 19th to 20th century
<p><span>Cetaceans have shown potential to be used as sentinel species for tracking environmental change in marine ecosystems, yet our assessment of change is typically limited to recent decades and lacks ecological baselines. Using historical museum specimens, we compared community niche metrics and degree of individual dietary specialization in groups of Pacific Arctic beluga (<em>Delphinapterus</em> <em>leucas</em>) from the 1800s (n = 5) to 1900s (n = 10) using stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes drilled from teeth. Beluga occupied a broader trophic niche and demonstrated a higher degree of individual specialization in the 1800s than in the 1900s. The cause of this shift is difficult to confirm given long timescales and constraints of specimen-based research but could indicate changes in the prey base or competition. The scale and nature of this detected shift provide perspective for continued research on these climate-vulnerable species.</span></p>
Data from: Human food subsidies drive individual specialization and intrapopulation dietary differences in a generalist predator
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Possible niche compression and individual specialization in Pacific Arctic beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) from the 19th to 20th century
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Deer dietary responses to wildfire: optimal foraging, individual specialization, or opportunism?
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Data and code from: Head morphology predicts prey traits and drives individual dietary specialization in generalist anurans
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Data from: Individual specialization in a generalist apex predator: The leopard seal
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The origin, connectivity, and individual specialization of island wolves after deer extirpation
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Data from: Seasonal shifts in feeding patterns: individual and population realized specialization in a high Arctic fish
Species with a broad and flexible diet may be at an advantage in a rapidly changing environment such as in today's Arctic ecosystems. Polar cod (Boreogadus saida), an abundant and ecologically important circumpolar Arctic fish, is often described as a zooplankton generalist feeder, which suggests that it may cope successfully with changes in prey composition. This description is justified based on the relatively broad diet of polar cod across sites and seasons. In this case study, we used polar cod dietary data from fall and winter and from two distinct environments, dominated either by Arctic or Atlantic water masses in Svalbard. Our results point to the importance of time and space when drawing conclusions on dietary plasticity and degree of specialization. Polar cod diet differed significantly between fall and the winter and between Arctic and Atlantic domains. Polar cod from Arctic domains displayed a strong realized population specialization on T.libellua in fall, and the larger dietary niche width observed in the winter was the product of realized individual specialization, with increased feeding on fish prey. Overall, we did not observe a generalized feeding behavior. If dietary niche width is to inform conservation management, we argue it must be recognized that populations from a single species may adopt seasonally contrasting degrees of dietary specialization and that these populations may differ in their vulnerability to climate-induced changes in prey community composition.
Individual dietary specialization in a generalist predator: A stable isotope analysis of urban and rural red foxes
<p>Some carnivores are known to survive well in urban habitats, yet the underlying behavioural tactics are poorly understood. One likely explanation for the success in urban habitats might be that carnivores are generalist consumers. However, urban populations of carnivores could as well consist of specialist feeders. Here, we compared the isotopic specialization of red foxes in urban and rural environments, using both a population and an individual level perspective. We measured stable isotope ratios in increments of red fox whiskers and potential food sources. Our results reveal that red foxes have a broad isotopic dietary niche and a large variation in resource use. Despite this large variation, we found significant differences between the variance of the urban and rural population for δ<sup>13</sup>C as well as δ<sup>15</sup>N values, suggesting a habitat-specific foraging behaviour. Although urban regions are more heterogeneous regarding land cover (based on the Shannon index) than rural regions, the dietary range of urban foxes was smaller compared to that of rural conspecifics. Moreover, the higher δ<sup>13</sup>C values and lower δ<sup>15</sup>N values of urban foxes suggest a relatively high input of anthropogenic food sources. The diet of most individuals remained largely constant over a longer period. The low intra-individual variability of urban and rural red foxes suggests a relatively constant proportion of food items consumed by individuals. Urban and rural foxes utilized a small proportion of the potentially available isotopic dietary niche as indicated by the low within-individual variation compared to the between-individual variation. We conclude that generalist fox populations consist of individual food specialists in urban and rural populations<b> </b>at least over those periods covered by our study.</p>
Data from: Resource preferences and the emergence of individual niche specialization within populations
<p>Growing evidence that individuals of many generalist animals behave as resource specialists has attracted substantial research interest for its ecological and evolutionary implications. Variation in resource preferences is considered to be critical for developing a general theory of individual specialization. However, it remains to be shown whether diverging preferences can arise among individuals sharing a similar environment, and whether these preferences are sufficiently stable over time to be ecologically relevant. We addressed these issues by means of common garden experiments in feral pigeons (<i>Columba livia</i>), a species known to exhibit among-individual resource specialization in the wild. Food-choice experiments on wild-caught pigeons and their captive-bred cross-fostered descendants showed that short-term variation in food preferences can easily arise within a population, and that this variation may represent a substantial fraction of the population foraging niche. However, the experiments also showed that, rather than being limited by genetic or vertical cultural inheritance, food preferences exhibited high plasticity and tended to converge in the long-term. Although our results challenge the notion that variation in food preferences is a major driver of resource specialization, early differences in preferences could pave the way to specializations when combined with neophobic responses and/or positive feedbacks that reinforce niche conservation.</p>
The Acceptability and Effectiveness of Receiving a Low-intensity Self-guided Psychoeducational Intervention for Individuals Waitlisted for Specialized Eating-disorder Treatment
ClinicalTrials.gov study NCT07319936. IPD Sharing: NO. Countries: 1. Publications: 0.
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