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130 results for “niche differentiation”
Figure 3 in Ecological niche differentiation among Aztec fruit-eating bat subspecies (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) in Mesoamerica
Figure 3. Niche overlap values for Schoener's D and Hellinger's I compared to a null distribution: (a) Artibeus a. aztecus (yellow) vs. A. a. minor (blue), (b) A. a. aztecus vs.A. A. major (red), (c) A. a. minor vs. A. a. major.
Figure 2 in Ecological niche differentiation among Aztec fruit-eating bat subspecies (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) in Mesoamerica
Figure 2. Maxent predicted potential distribution for (a) Artibeus a. aztecus, (b) A. a. minor, and (c) A. a. major.
Data from: Difference in reproductive mode rather than ploidy explains niche differentiation in sympatric sexual and apomictic populations of Potentilla puberula
Apomicts tend to have larger geographical distributional ranges and to occur in ecologically more extreme environments than their sexual progenitors. However, the expression of apomixis is typically linked to polyploidy. Thus, it is a priori not clear whether intrinsic effects related to the change in the reproductive mode or rather in the ploidy drive ecological differentiation. We used sympatric sexual and apomictic populations of Potentilla puberula to test for ecological differentiation. To distinguish the effects of reproductive mode and ploidy on the ecology of cytotypes, we compared the niches (i) of sexuals (tetraploids) and autopolyploid apomicts (penta-, hepta- and octoploids) and (ii) of the three apomictic cytotypes. We based comparisons on a ploidy screen of 238 populations along a latitudinal transect through the Eastern European Alps and associated bioclimatic, soil and topographic data. Sexual tetraploids preferred primary habitats at drier, steeper, more south-oriented slopes, while apomicts mostly occurred in human-made habitats with higher water availability. Contrariwise, we found no or only marginal ecological differentiation among the apomictic higher ploids. Based on the pronounced ecological differences found between sexuals and apomicts, in addition to the lack of niche differentiation among cytotypes of the same reproductive mode, we conclude that reproductive mode rather than ploidy is the main driver of the observed differences. Moreover, we compared our system with others from the literature, to stress the importance of identifying alternative confounding effects (such as hybrid origin). Finally, we underline the relevance of studying ecological parthenogenesis in sympatry, to minimise the effects of differential migration abilities
Fig. 4 in Isotopic Niche Differentiation Among Mammals From A Rainforest In Peninsular Malaysia
Fig. 4. Differences (mean ± SE) in δ15N (A: F = 17.316; P <0.001) and δ13C (B: F = 19.100; P <0.001) in individuals classified into 3, 48 3, 48 different dietary lifestyle. Tamhane pairwise comparison post-hoc groups membership indicated by a, b, and c.
Fig. 2 in Isotopic Niche Differentiation Among Mammals From A Rainforest In Peninsular Malaysia
Fig. 2. Differences (mean ± SE) in δ 15N (A) and δ13C (B) identified in hair samples from eight mammalian species of a tropical rainforest in Peninsular Malaysia. Mouse-deer samples that could not be classified to species level were coded as mouse-deer.
Fig. 3 in Isotopic Niche Differentiation Among Mammals From A Rainforest In Peninsular Malaysia
Fig. 3. Differences (mean ± SE) in δ15N (A: F = 10.046; P <0.001) and δ13C (B: F = 5.728; P = 0.006) among taxa classified into 2, 48 2, 48 different habitat types. Tukey's multiple comparison post-hoc groups membership indicated by a and b.
Fig. 1 in Isotopic Niche Differentiation Among Mammals From A Rainforest In Peninsular Malaysia
Fig. 1. δ15N and δ13C values in hair samples from eight mammalian species of a tropical rainforest in Peninsular Malaysia. The numbers in parentheses indicate sample sizes. Mouse-deer samples that could not be classified to species level were coded as mouse-deer.
Data from: Differential use of nest materials and niche space among avian species within a single ecological community
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: Difference in reproductive mode rather than ploidy explains niche differentiation in sympatric sexual and apomictic populations of Potentilla puberula
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Niche differentiation and evolution of the wood decay machinery in the invasive fungus Serpula lacrymans
<p>Ecological niche breadth and the mechanisms facilitating its evolution are fundamental to understanding adaptation to changing environments, persistence of generalist and specialist lineages and the formation of new species. Woody substrates are structurally complex resources utilized by organisms with specialized decay machinery. Wood-decaying fungi represent ideal model systems to study evolution of niche breadth, as they vary greatly in their host range and preferred decay stage of the substrate. In order to dissect the genetic basis for niche specialization in the invasive brown rot fungus <i>Serpula lacrymans</i>, we used phenotyping and integrative analysis of phylogenomic and transcriptomic data to compare this species to wild relatives in the Serpulaceae with a range of specialist to generalist decay strategies. Our results indicate specialist species have rewired regulatory networks active during wood decay towards decreased reliance on enzymatic machinery, and therefore nitrogen-intensive decay components. This shift was likely accompanied with adaptation to a narrow tree line habitat and switch to a pioneer decomposer strategy, both requiring rapid colonization of a nitrogen-limited substrate. Among substrate specialists with narrow niches, we also found evidence for pathways facilitating reversal to generalism, highlighting how evolution may move along different axes of niche space.</p>
Data from: Spider webs, stable isotopes and molecular gut content analysis: multiple lines of evidence support trophic niche differentiation in a community of Hawaiian spiders
1. Adaptive radiations are typically characterized by niche partitioning among their constituent species. Trophic niche partitioning is particularly important in predatory animals, which rely on limited food resources for survival. 2. We test for trophic niche partitioning in an adaptive radiation of Hawaiian Tetragnatha spiders, which have diversified in situ on the Hawaiian Islands. We focus on a community of nine species belonging to two different clades, one web building and the other actively hunting, which co-occur in wet forest on East Maui. We hypothesize that trophic niches differ significantly both 1) among species within a clade, indicating food resource partitioning, and 2) between the two clades, corresponding with their differences in foraging strategy. 3. To assess niches of the spider species, we measure a) web architecture, the structure of the hunting tool, and b) site choice, the physical placement of the web in the habitat. We then test whether differences in these parameters translate into meaningful differences in trophic niche by measuring c) stable isotope signatures of carbon and nitrogen in the spiders' tissues, and d) gut content of spiders based on metabarcoding data. 4. We find significant interspecific differences in web architecture and site choice. Importantly, these differences are reflected in stable isotope signatures among the five web-building species, as well as significant isotopic differences between web-builders and active hunters. Gut content data also show interspecific and inter-clade differences. Pairwise overlaps of web architecture between species are positively correlated with overlaps of isotopic signature. 5. Our results reveal trophic niche partitioning among species within each clade, as well as between the web-building and actively hunting clades. Based on the correlation between web architecture and stable isotopes, it appears that the isotopic signatures of spiders' tissues are influenced by architectural differences among their webs. Our findings indicate an important link between web structure, microhabitat preference and diet in the Hawaiian Tetragnatha.
Divergence in cold tolerance promotes niche differentiation between diploid and polyploid kiwifruits along an altitudinal gradient in Southwest China
<p>Polyploidization is hypothesized to improve the freezing resistance of plants in cold regions. However, adaptive strategies and key physiological mechanisms involved in the freezing resistant ability of polyploids remain unclear. In <em>Actinidia chinensis</em> (kiwifruits), the tetraploids and hexaploids occupy higher altitude habitats with colder climates than the diploids, providing a study system to investigate mechanisms responsible for differentiation in freezing resistance between cytotypes. We characterized environmental conditions of their natural distribution areas, and measured leaf-level traits of cold damages and water relations at typical sites of each cytotype along an altitudinal gradient. Polyploids showed lower semi-lethal temperature (LT<sub>50</sub>) than ice nucleation temperature (INT), reflecting a tolerance strategy to cope with freezing events in the plateau regions. More negative turgor loss points and larger cell elastic modulus of polyploids could help to alleviate damages from freezing-induced cell dehydration, thus strengthening their tolerance to lower subzero temperatures (lower LT<sub>50</sub>). The increased supercooling capacity of polyploids (lower INT) might correlate with less extracellular ice formation due to lower osmotic potential at full turgor, apoplastic water fraction and tissue capacitance. Our study uncovers a greater cold tolerance in polyploid kiwifruits than diploids, and suggests the potential linkage between freezing tolerance and water relations. Taken together, such a divergence in stress resistance may underlie the niche shift of polyploid plants towards harsh environments.</p>
Artificial selection for predatory behavior results in dietary niche differentiation in an omnivorous mammal
<p>The diet of an individual is a result of the availability of dietary items and the individual's foraging skills and preferences. Behavioral differences may thus influence diet variation, but the evolvability of diet choice through behavioral evolution has not been studied. We used experimental evolution combined with a field enclosure experiment to test whether behavioral selection leads to dietary divergence. We analysed the individual dietary niche via stable isotope ratios of nitrogen (δ15N) and carbon (δ13C) in the hair of an omnivorous mammal, bank vole, from 4 lines selected for predatory behavior and 4 unselected control lines. Predatory voles had higher hair δ15N values than control voles, supporting our hypothesis that predatory voles would consume a higher trophic level diet (more animal vs. plant foods). This difference was significant in the early but not the late summer season. The δ13C values also indicated a seasonal change in the consumed plant matter and a difference in food sources among selection lines in the early summer. These results imply that environmental factors interact with evolved behavioral tendencies to determine dietary niche heterogeneity. Behavioral selection thus has potential to contribute to the evolution of diet choice and ultimately the species' ecological niche breadth.</p>
Differential nutrient limitation and tree height control leaf physiology, supporting niche partitioning in tropical dipterocarp forests
<p><span>Revealing the mechanisms of environmental niche partitioning within lowland tropical forests is important for understanding the drivers of current species distributions and potential vulnerability to environmental change. Tropical forest structure and species composition change across edaphic gradients in Borneo over short distances. However, our understanding of how edaphic conditions affect tree physiology and whether these relationships drive niche partitioning within Bornean forests remains incomplete. </span></p> <p><span>This study evaluated how leaf physiological function changes with nutrient availability across a fine-scale edaphic gradient and whether these relationships vary according to tree height. Furthermore, we tested whether intraspecific leaf trait variation allows generalist species to populate a wider range of environments.</span></p> <p><span>We measured leaf traits of 218 trees ranging in height from 4 to 66 m from 13 dipterocarp species within four tropical forest types (alluvial, mudstone, sandstone, kerangas) occurring along an < 5km edaphic gradient in North Borneo. The traits measured included saturating photosynthesis (<em>A</em><sub>sat</sub>), maximum photosynthetic capacity (<em>V</em><sub>cmax</sub>), leaf dark respiration (<em>R</em><sub>leaf</sub>), leaf mass per area (LMA), leaf thickness, minimum stomatal conductance (<em>g</em><sub>dark</sub>) and leaf nutrient concentrations (N, P, Ca, K, Mg). </span></p> <p><span>Across all species, leaf traits varied consistently in response to soil nutrient availability across forest types except <em>R</em><sub>leaf_mass</sub>, [<em>Mg</em>]<sub>leaf</sub> and [<em>Ca</em>]<sub>leaf</sub>. Changes in photosynthesis and respiration rates were related to different leaf nutrients across forest types, with greater nutrient-use efficiency in more nutrient-poor environments. Generalist species partially or fully compensated reductions in mass-based photosynthesis through increasing LMA in more nutrient-poor environments. </span></p> <p><span>Leaf traits also varied with tree height, except <em>V</em><sub>cmax_mass</sub>, but only in response to height-related modifications of leaf morphology (LMA and leaf thickness). These height-trait relationships did not vary across the edaphic gradient, except for <em>A</em><sub>sat</sub>, [<em>N</em>]leaf, [<em>P</em>]<sub>leaf</sub> and [<em>K</em>]<sub>leaf</sub>. </span></p> <p><span>Our results highlight that modification of leaf physiological function and morphology act as important adaptations for Bornean dipterocarps in response to edaphic and vertical environmental gradients. Meanwhile, multiple nutrients appear to contribute to niche partitioning and could drive species distributions and high biodiversity within Bornean forest landscapes.</span></p>
Sowerby's beaked whale biosonar and movement strategy indicate deep-sea foraging niche differentiation in mesoplodont whales
<p>Closely related species are expected to diverge in foraging strategy, reflecting the evolutionary drive to optimize foraging performance. The most speciose cetacean genus, Mesoplodon, comprises beaked whales with little diversity in external morphology or diet, and overlapping distributions. Moreover, the few studied species of beaked whales (Ziphiidae) show very similar foraging styles with slow, energy-conserving movement during long, deep foraging dives. This raises the question of what factors drive their speciation. Using data from animal-attached tags and aerial imagery, we tested the hypothesis that two similar-sized mesoplodonts, Sowerby's(Mesoplodon bidens) and Blainville's (Mesoplodon densirostris) beaked whales, exploit a similar low-energy niche. We show that, compared with the low-energy strategist Blainville's beaked whale, AQ6 Sowerby's beaked whale lives in the fast lane. While targeting a similar mesopelagic/bathypelagic foraging zone, they consistently swim and hunt faster, perform shorter deep dives, and echolocate at a faster rate and with higher frequency clicks. Further, extensive nearsurface travel between deep dives challenges the interpretation of beaked whale shallow inter-foraging dives as a management strategy for decompression sickness. The distinctively higher frequency echolocation clicks do not hold apparent foraging benefits. Instead, we argue that a high-speed foraging style influences dive duration and echolocation behaviour, enabling access to a distinct prey population. Our results demonstrate that beaked whales exploit a broader diversity of deep-sea foraging and energetic niches than hitherto suspected. The marked deviation of Sowerby's beaked whales from the typical ziphiid foraging strategy has potential implications for their response to anthropogenic sounds, which appears to be strongly behaviourally driven in other ziphiids.</p>
Allometry of behavior and niche differentiation among congeneric African antelopes
<p>Size-structured differences in resource use stabilize species' coexistence in animal communities, but what behavioral mechanisms underpin these niche differences? Behavior is constrained by morphological and physiological traits that scale allometrically with body size, yet the degree to which behaviors exhibit allometric scaling remains unclear; empirical datasets often encompass broad variation in environmental context and phylogenetic history, which complicates the detection and interpretation of scaling relationships between size and behavior. We studied the movement and foraging behaviors of three sympatric, congeneric spiral-horned antelope species (<em>Tragelaphus</em> spp.) that differ in body mass—bushbuck (<em>Tragelaphus sylvaticus</em>, 26–40 kg), nyala (<em>Tragelaphus angasii</em>, 57–83 kg), and greater kudu (<em>Tragelaphus strepsiceros</em>,<em> </em>80–142 kg)—in an African savanna ecosystem where (i) food was patchily distributed due to ecosystem engineering by fungus-farming termites and (ii) predation risk was low due to the extirpation of several large carnivores. Because foraging behavior is directly linked to traits that scale allometrically with size (e.g., metabolic rate, locomotion), we hypothesized that habitat use and diet selection would likewise exhibit nonlinear scaling relationships. All three antelope species selected habitats near termitaria, hotspots of abundant, high-quality forage. Experimental removal of forage from termite mounds sharply reduced the use of those mounds by bushbuck, confirming that habitat selection was resource-driven. Strength of selection for termite mounds scaled negatively and nonlinearly with body mass, as did recursion (frequency with which individuals revisited locations), whereas home-range area and mean step length scaled positively and nonlinearly with body mass. All species disproportionately ate mound-associated plant taxa; nonetheless, forage selectivity and dietary composition, richness, and quality all differed among species, reflecting the partitioning of shared food resources. Dietary protein exhibited the theoretically predicted negative allometric relationship with body mass, whereas digestible-energy content scaled positively. Our results demonstrate cryptic size-based separation along spatial and dietary niche axes—despite superficial similarities among species—consistent with the idea that body-size differentiation is driven by selection for divergent resource-acquisition strategies, which in turn underpin coexistence. Foraging and space-use behaviors were nonlinearly related to body mass, supporting the hypothesis that behavior scales allometrically with size. However, explaining the variable functional forms of these relationships is a challenge for future research.</p>
Data from: Data for habitat quality or quantity? Niche marginality across 21 plants and animals suggests differential responses between highland and lowland species to past climatic changes
<p>Climatic changes can affect species distributions, population abundance, and evolution. Such organismal responses could be determined by the amount and quality of available habitats, which can vary independently. In this study, we assessed changes in habitat quantity and quality independently to generate explicit predictions of the species' responses to climatic changes between Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and present day. We built ecological niche models and distribution models for 21 reptile, mammal, and plant taxa from the Baja California peninsula inhabiting lowland or highland environments. Geological data suggests the CCSM global circulation model is a better representation of LGM climate for the Baja California peninsula. Significant niche divergence was detected for all clades within species, along with significant differences in the niche breadth and area of distribution between northern and southern clades. Most clades showed a reduction in distribution area towards LGM. Further, niche marginality (used as a measure of habitat quality) was higher during LGM for most clades, except for northern highland species. Our results suggest that changes in habitat quantity and quality can affect organismal response independently. This allows the prediction of genomic signatures associated with changes in effective population size and selection pressure that could be explicitly tested to support our models.</p>
Hearing sensitivity: An underlying mechanism for niche differentiation in gleaning bats
<p>Supplemental data, Auditory Brain Response (ABR) measurement files, measured echolocation call parameter, echolocation call sequences</p>
Resource competition shapes biological rhythms and promotes temporal niche differentiation in a community simulation
<p>This is the code and dataset for the article entitled "Resource competition shapes biological rhythms and promotes temporal niche differentiation in a community simulation," in the journal Ecology and Evolution.</p> <ul> <li>Competition for resources often contributes strongly to defining an organism's ecological niche. Endogenous biological rhythms are important adaptations to the temporal dimension of niches, but how other organisms influence such temporal niches have not been much studied, and the role of competition in particular has been even less examined. We investigated how interspecific and intraspecific competition for resources shape an organism's activity rhythms.</li> <li>To do this, we simulated communities of one or two species in an agent-based model. Individuals in the simulation move according to a circadian activity rhythm and compete for limited resources. Probability of reproduction is proportional to an individual's success in obtaining resources. Offspring may have variance in rhythm parameters, which allow for the population to evolve over time.</li> <li>We demonstrate that when organisms are arrhythmic, one species will always be competitively excluded from the environment, but the existence of activity rhythms allows niche differentiation and indefinite coexistence of the two species. Two species which are initially active at the same phase will differentiate their phase angle of entrainment over time to avoid each other. When only one species is present in an environment, competition within the species strongly selects for niche expansion through arrhythmicity, but the addition of an interspecific competitor facilitates evolution of increased rhythmic amplitude when combined with additional adaptations for temporal specialization. Finally, if individuals preferentially mate with others who are active at similar times of day, then disruptive selection by intraspecific competition can split one population into two reproductively isolated groups separated in activity time.</li> <li>These simulations suggest that biological rhythms are an effective method to temporally differentiate ecological niches, and that competition is an important ecological pressure promoting the evolution of rhythms and sleep. This is the first study to use ecological modeling to examine biological rhythms.</li> </ul>
Hetaerina SNPs data for: Genomic differentiation and niche divergence in the Hetaerina americana (Odonata) cryptic species complex
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst"><span>The evolution of reproductive barriers, that is, the speciation process, implies the limitation of gene flow between populations. Different patterns of genomic differentiation throughout the speciation continuum may provide insights into the causal evolutionary forces of species divergence. In this study, we analyzed a cryptic species complex of the genus <em>Hetaerina</em> (Odonata). This complex includes <em>H. americana</em> and <em>H. calverti</em>; however, in <em>H. americana</em>, two highly differentiated genetic groups have been previously detected, which, we hypothesize, may correspond to different species with low morphological variation. We obtained single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data for 90 individuals belonging to the different taxa in the complex and carried out differentiation tests to identify genetic isolation. The results from STRUCTURE and discriminant analysis of principal components (DAPC), based on almost 5,000 SNPs, confirmed the presence of three highly differentiated taxa. Also, we found <em>F</em><sub>ST </sub>values above 0.5 in pairwise comparisons, which indicates a considerable degree of genetic isolation among the suggested species. We also found </span><span>low climatic niche overlap among all taxa, suggesting that each group occurs at specific conditions of temperature, precipitation and elevation</span><span>. We propose that <em>H. americana</em> comprises two cryptic species, which may be reproductively isolated by ecological barriers related to niche divergence, since the morphological variation is minimal and, therefore, mechanical barriers are probably less effective compared to other related species such as <em>H. calverti</em>.</span></p>
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Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.