Diet of the black rat (Rattus rattus) in a Canary laurel forest: species identification based on morphological markers and DNA sequences
The black rat (Rattus rattus) is an alien species that causes severe 10 impact on island ecosystems, floras and faunas. The main aim of this study was to determine the plant and animal contributions to black rat diet in a pristine misty laurel forest area on La Palma (Canary Islands). Our working hy...
Published in: | Journal of Natural History |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , |
Other Authors: | |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Taylor & Francis
2021
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/240104 https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2021.1915400 https://doi.org/10.13039/501100003329 |
id |
ftcsic:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/240104 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftcsic:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/240104 2024-02-11T10:08:13+01:00 Diet of the black rat (Rattus rattus) in a Canary laurel forest: species identification based on morphological markers and DNA sequences Pomeda-Gutiérrez, Fernando Medina, Félix M. Nogales, Manuel Vargas, Pablo Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España) 2021-05-06 http://hdl.handle.net/10261/240104 https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2021.1915400 https://doi.org/10.13039/501100003329 en eng Taylor & Francis #PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE# MINECO/CGL2015/67865-P Publisher's version https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2021.1915400 Sí Journal of Natural History 55(9-10): 629-648 (2021) 0022-2933 http://hdl.handle.net/10261/240104 doi:10.1080/00222933.2021.1915400 1464-5262 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003329 open Canary Islands DNA barcode Faecal analysis Macroscopic item analysis Toxic plants Seed dispersal artículo http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501 2021 ftcsic https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2021.191540010.13039/501100003329 2024-01-16T11:08:15Z The black rat (Rattus rattus) is an alien species that causes severe 10 impact on island ecosystems, floras and faunas. The main aim of this study was to determine the plant and animal contributions to black rat diet in a pristine misty laurel forest area on La Palma (Canary Islands). Our working hypothesis was that this rat equally consumes plants and animals (fully omnivorous animal) wherever it is intro- 15 duced, including pristine habitats. A total of 483 droppings collected from the terrain were first morphologically examined using a stereomicroscope, which showed high plant consumption (presence in 92.4% of droppings), followed by invertebrates (46.0%) and vertebrates (31.2%). DNA-based analyses revealed even higher pro- 20 portions of plants (97%) and invertebrates (79%), while fine-scale sequence searches (DNA barcoding) in the GenBank (BLAST tool) provided a preliminary identification of 44 plants and 12 invertebrate taxa. To gain more in-depth insight into plant identification, we built up a local DNA reference collection (58 species), improving accuracy 25 (30 species confirmed) compared to GenBank searches (25 species). Contingency analyses (chisquare and G-test) only showed significant differences in droppings between plant sequences and toxic plant presence. This study confirms that the black rat is here an omnivorous animal but with a strong plant diet component, including an intrigu- 30 ingly high number of toxic plants. Interestingly, despite rodents chewing on fruits and usually crushing seeds, 66 intact Rubus seeds (Rosaceae) were found in 15 droppings (3.1%). All these results suggest that black rats consume any plant types, including fruits and seeds that can be locally dispersed such as native brambles. This research was partially financed by the ‘Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad’ (Spain), project CGL2015-67865-P. Peer reviewed Article in Journal/Newspaper Rattus rattus Digital.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council) Journal of Natural History 55 9-10 629 648 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Digital.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council) |
op_collection_id |
ftcsic |
language |
English |
topic |
Canary Islands DNA barcode Faecal analysis Macroscopic item analysis Toxic plants Seed dispersal |
spellingShingle |
Canary Islands DNA barcode Faecal analysis Macroscopic item analysis Toxic plants Seed dispersal Pomeda-Gutiérrez, Fernando Medina, Félix M. Nogales, Manuel Vargas, Pablo Diet of the black rat (Rattus rattus) in a Canary laurel forest: species identification based on morphological markers and DNA sequences |
topic_facet |
Canary Islands DNA barcode Faecal analysis Macroscopic item analysis Toxic plants Seed dispersal |
description |
The black rat (Rattus rattus) is an alien species that causes severe 10 impact on island ecosystems, floras and faunas. The main aim of this study was to determine the plant and animal contributions to black rat diet in a pristine misty laurel forest area on La Palma (Canary Islands). Our working hypothesis was that this rat equally consumes plants and animals (fully omnivorous animal) wherever it is intro- 15 duced, including pristine habitats. A total of 483 droppings collected from the terrain were first morphologically examined using a stereomicroscope, which showed high plant consumption (presence in 92.4% of droppings), followed by invertebrates (46.0%) and vertebrates (31.2%). DNA-based analyses revealed even higher pro- 20 portions of plants (97%) and invertebrates (79%), while fine-scale sequence searches (DNA barcoding) in the GenBank (BLAST tool) provided a preliminary identification of 44 plants and 12 invertebrate taxa. To gain more in-depth insight into plant identification, we built up a local DNA reference collection (58 species), improving accuracy 25 (30 species confirmed) compared to GenBank searches (25 species). Contingency analyses (chisquare and G-test) only showed significant differences in droppings between plant sequences and toxic plant presence. This study confirms that the black rat is here an omnivorous animal but with a strong plant diet component, including an intrigu- 30 ingly high number of toxic plants. Interestingly, despite rodents chewing on fruits and usually crushing seeds, 66 intact Rubus seeds (Rosaceae) were found in 15 droppings (3.1%). All these results suggest that black rats consume any plant types, including fruits and seeds that can be locally dispersed such as native brambles. This research was partially financed by the ‘Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad’ (Spain), project CGL2015-67865-P. Peer reviewed |
author2 |
Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Pomeda-Gutiérrez, Fernando Medina, Félix M. Nogales, Manuel Vargas, Pablo |
author_facet |
Pomeda-Gutiérrez, Fernando Medina, Félix M. Nogales, Manuel Vargas, Pablo |
author_sort |
Pomeda-Gutiérrez, Fernando |
title |
Diet of the black rat (Rattus rattus) in a Canary laurel forest: species identification based on morphological markers and DNA sequences |
title_short |
Diet of the black rat (Rattus rattus) in a Canary laurel forest: species identification based on morphological markers and DNA sequences |
title_full |
Diet of the black rat (Rattus rattus) in a Canary laurel forest: species identification based on morphological markers and DNA sequences |
title_fullStr |
Diet of the black rat (Rattus rattus) in a Canary laurel forest: species identification based on morphological markers and DNA sequences |
title_full_unstemmed |
Diet of the black rat (Rattus rattus) in a Canary laurel forest: species identification based on morphological markers and DNA sequences |
title_sort |
diet of the black rat (rattus rattus) in a canary laurel forest: species identification based on morphological markers and dna sequences |
publisher |
Taylor & Francis |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10261/240104 https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2021.1915400 https://doi.org/10.13039/501100003329 |
genre |
Rattus rattus |
genre_facet |
Rattus rattus |
op_relation |
#PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE# MINECO/CGL2015/67865-P Publisher's version https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2021.1915400 Sí Journal of Natural History 55(9-10): 629-648 (2021) 0022-2933 http://hdl.handle.net/10261/240104 doi:10.1080/00222933.2021.1915400 1464-5262 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003329 |
op_rights |
open |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2021.191540010.13039/501100003329 |
container_title |
Journal of Natural History |
container_volume |
55 |
container_issue |
9-10 |
container_start_page |
629 |
op_container_end_page |
648 |
_version_ |
1790607231142592512 |