Food Niche Overlap of Avian Predators (Falconiformes, Strigiformes) in a Field and Forest Mosaic in Central Poland
Food niche overlap statistics are a common way to show competition for food resources in a group of animals. Niche breadths of various species are very variable and their diet composition changes reflecting prey availability. The aim of this study was to evidence the food niche overlap of the whole...
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2021
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11020479 https://doaj.org/article/e1e3ea4a12134deaacdd77552c244ab9 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:e1e3ea4a12134deaacdd77552c244ab9 2024-01-14T10:11:20+01:00 Food Niche Overlap of Avian Predators (Falconiformes, Strigiformes) in a Field and Forest Mosaic in Central Poland Jakub Gryz Dagny Krauze-Gryz 2021-02-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11020479 https://doaj.org/article/e1e3ea4a12134deaacdd77552c244ab9 EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/2/479 https://doaj.org/toc/2076-2615 doi:10.3390/ani11020479 2076-2615 https://doaj.org/article/e1e3ea4a12134deaacdd77552c244ab9 Animals, Vol 11, Iss 2, p 479 (2021) diet composition food niche breadth pellet analysis breeding season raptors owls Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 Zoology QL1-991 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11020479 2023-12-17T01:46:06Z Food niche overlap statistics are a common way to show competition for food resources in a group of animals. Niche breadths of various species are very variable and their diet composition changes reflecting prey availability. The aim of this study was to evidence the food niche overlap of the whole assemblage of avian predators (eight raptor and owl species, some of them reaching very high densities) in a field and forest mosaic of central Poland. The diet composition was assessed on the basis of pellet analyses and the identification of prey remains found under the nests in the breeding period. The extent of the niche overlap was calculated using a Pianka formula. The food niche overlap indices ranged from 0.02 to 0.93 (mostly below 0.5). The most separate food niche was that of the white-tailed eagle, who regularly preyed on fish. The highest niche overlap was recorded for the common buzzard and common kestrel, two species preying on field rodents, switching to soricomorphs when the former were scarce. Our results confirmed that the food niches of species coexisting in the same area were considerably separate, which is a result of preying on various prey species or searching for them in different habitats. Article in Journal/Newspaper White-tailed eagle Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Animals 11 2 479 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
diet composition food niche breadth pellet analysis breeding season raptors owls Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 Zoology QL1-991 |
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diet composition food niche breadth pellet analysis breeding season raptors owls Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 Zoology QL1-991 Jakub Gryz Dagny Krauze-Gryz Food Niche Overlap of Avian Predators (Falconiformes, Strigiformes) in a Field and Forest Mosaic in Central Poland |
topic_facet |
diet composition food niche breadth pellet analysis breeding season raptors owls Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 Zoology QL1-991 |
description |
Food niche overlap statistics are a common way to show competition for food resources in a group of animals. Niche breadths of various species are very variable and their diet composition changes reflecting prey availability. The aim of this study was to evidence the food niche overlap of the whole assemblage of avian predators (eight raptor and owl species, some of them reaching very high densities) in a field and forest mosaic of central Poland. The diet composition was assessed on the basis of pellet analyses and the identification of prey remains found under the nests in the breeding period. The extent of the niche overlap was calculated using a Pianka formula. The food niche overlap indices ranged from 0.02 to 0.93 (mostly below 0.5). The most separate food niche was that of the white-tailed eagle, who regularly preyed on fish. The highest niche overlap was recorded for the common buzzard and common kestrel, two species preying on field rodents, switching to soricomorphs when the former were scarce. Our results confirmed that the food niches of species coexisting in the same area were considerably separate, which is a result of preying on various prey species or searching for them in different habitats. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jakub Gryz Dagny Krauze-Gryz |
author_facet |
Jakub Gryz Dagny Krauze-Gryz |
author_sort |
Jakub Gryz |
title |
Food Niche Overlap of Avian Predators (Falconiformes, Strigiformes) in a Field and Forest Mosaic in Central Poland |
title_short |
Food Niche Overlap of Avian Predators (Falconiformes, Strigiformes) in a Field and Forest Mosaic in Central Poland |
title_full |
Food Niche Overlap of Avian Predators (Falconiformes, Strigiformes) in a Field and Forest Mosaic in Central Poland |
title_fullStr |
Food Niche Overlap of Avian Predators (Falconiformes, Strigiformes) in a Field and Forest Mosaic in Central Poland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Food Niche Overlap of Avian Predators (Falconiformes, Strigiformes) in a Field and Forest Mosaic in Central Poland |
title_sort |
food niche overlap of avian predators (falconiformes, strigiformes) in a field and forest mosaic in central poland |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11020479 https://doaj.org/article/e1e3ea4a12134deaacdd77552c244ab9 |
genre |
White-tailed eagle |
genre_facet |
White-tailed eagle |
op_source |
Animals, Vol 11, Iss 2, p 479 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/2/479 https://doaj.org/toc/2076-2615 doi:10.3390/ani11020479 2076-2615 https://doaj.org/article/e1e3ea4a12134deaacdd77552c244ab9 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11020479 |
container_title |
Animals |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
479 |
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1788066238486806528 |