Molecular dietary analyses of western capercaillies (Tetrao urogallus) reveal a diverse diet ...

• Main Authors: Chua, Physilia, Lammers, Youri, Menoni, Emmanuel, Ekrem, Torbjørn, Bohmann, Kristine, Boessenkool, Sanne, Alsos, Inger
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2021
• Subjects: FOS Natural sciences; Jura; Norway; Finnmark; Troms
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.dfn2z3524; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.dfn2z3524

Conservation strategies centred around species habitat protection rely on species’ dietary information. One species at the focal point of conservation efforts is the herbivorous grouse, the western capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), which is an indicator species for forest biodiversity conservation. Non-molecular means used to study their diet are time-consuming and at low taxonomic resolution. This delays the implementation of conservation strategies including resource protection due to uncertainty about its diet. Thus, limited knowledge on diet is hampering conservation efforts. Here we use non-invasive environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding on DNA extracted from faeces to present the first large-scale molecular dietary analysis of capercaillies. Faecal samples were collected from seven populations located in Norway (Finnmark, Troms, Trøndelag, Innlandet) and France (Vosges, Jura, Pyrenees) (n=172). We detected 122 plant taxa belonging to 46 plant families of which 37.7% of the detected taxa could be ...