Vertical foraging shifts in Hawaiian forest birds in response to invasive rat removal.

Worldwide, native species increasingly contend with the interacting stressors of habitat fragmentation and invasive species, yet their combined effects have rarely been examined. Direct negative effects of invasive omnivores are well documented, but the indirect effects of resource competition or th...

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Published in:PLOS ONE
Main Authors: Erin E Wilson Rankin, Jessie L Knowlton, Daniel S Gruner, David J Flaspohler, Christian P Giardina, Devin R Leopold, Anna Buckardt, William C Pitt, Tadashi Fukami
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2018
Subjects:
R
Q
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0202869
https://doaj.org/article/f4a3c918667647cfaf28c1e6a5157bd0
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spelling ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:f4a3c918667647cfaf28c1e6a5157bd0 2023-05-15T18:05:39+02:00 Vertical foraging shifts in Hawaiian forest birds in response to invasive rat removal. Erin E Wilson Rankin Jessie L Knowlton Daniel S Gruner David J Flaspohler Christian P Giardina Devin R Leopold Anna Buckardt William C Pitt Tadashi Fukami 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0202869 https://doaj.org/article/f4a3c918667647cfaf28c1e6a5157bd0 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC6152863?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0202869 https://doaj.org/article/f4a3c918667647cfaf28c1e6a5157bd0 PLoS ONE, Vol 13, Iss 9, p e0202869 (2018) Medicine R Science Q article 2018 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0202869 2022-12-31T00:08:59Z Worldwide, native species increasingly contend with the interacting stressors of habitat fragmentation and invasive species, yet their combined effects have rarely been examined. Direct negative effects of invasive omnivores are well documented, but the indirect effects of resource competition or those caused by predator avoidance are unknown. Here we isolated and examined the independent and interactive effects of invasive omnivorous Black rats (Rattus rattus) and forest fragment size on the interactions between avian predators and their arthropod prey. Our study examines whether invasive omnivores and ecosystem fragment size impact: 1) the vertical distribution of arthropod species composition and abundance, and 2) the vertical profile of foraging behaviors of five native and two non-native bird species found in our study system. We predicted that the reduced edge effects and greater structural complexity and canopy height of larger fragments would limit the total and proportional habitat space frequented by rats and thus limit their impact on both arthropod biomass and birds' foraging behavior. We experimentally removed invasive omnivorous Black rats across a 100-fold (0.1 to 12 ha) size gradient of forest fragments on Hawai'i Island, and paired foraging observations of forest passerines with arthropod sampling in the 16 rat-removed and 18 control fragments. Rat removal was associated with shifts in the vertical distribution of arthropod biomass, irrespective of fragment size. Bird foraging behavior mirrored this shift, and the impact of rat removal was greater for birds that primarily eat fruit and insects compared with those that consume nectar. Evidence from this model study system indicates that invasive rats indirectly alter the feeding behavior of native birds, and consequently impact multiple trophic levels. This study suggests that native species can modify their foraging behavior in response to invasive species removal and presumably arrival through behavioral plasticity. Article in Journal/Newspaper Rattus rattus Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles PLOS ONE 13 9 e0202869
institution Open Polar
collection Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles
op_collection_id ftdoajarticles
language English
topic Medicine
R
Science
Q
spellingShingle Medicine
R
Science
Q
Erin E Wilson Rankin
Jessie L Knowlton
Daniel S Gruner
David J Flaspohler
Christian P Giardina
Devin R Leopold
Anna Buckardt
William C Pitt
Tadashi Fukami
Vertical foraging shifts in Hawaiian forest birds in response to invasive rat removal.
topic_facet Medicine
R
Science
Q
description Worldwide, native species increasingly contend with the interacting stressors of habitat fragmentation and invasive species, yet their combined effects have rarely been examined. Direct negative effects of invasive omnivores are well documented, but the indirect effects of resource competition or those caused by predator avoidance are unknown. Here we isolated and examined the independent and interactive effects of invasive omnivorous Black rats (Rattus rattus) and forest fragment size on the interactions between avian predators and their arthropod prey. Our study examines whether invasive omnivores and ecosystem fragment size impact: 1) the vertical distribution of arthropod species composition and abundance, and 2) the vertical profile of foraging behaviors of five native and two non-native bird species found in our study system. We predicted that the reduced edge effects and greater structural complexity and canopy height of larger fragments would limit the total and proportional habitat space frequented by rats and thus limit their impact on both arthropod biomass and birds' foraging behavior. We experimentally removed invasive omnivorous Black rats across a 100-fold (0.1 to 12 ha) size gradient of forest fragments on Hawai'i Island, and paired foraging observations of forest passerines with arthropod sampling in the 16 rat-removed and 18 control fragments. Rat removal was associated with shifts in the vertical distribution of arthropod biomass, irrespective of fragment size. Bird foraging behavior mirrored this shift, and the impact of rat removal was greater for birds that primarily eat fruit and insects compared with those that consume nectar. Evidence from this model study system indicates that invasive rats indirectly alter the feeding behavior of native birds, and consequently impact multiple trophic levels. This study suggests that native species can modify their foraging behavior in response to invasive species removal and presumably arrival through behavioral plasticity.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Erin E Wilson Rankin
Jessie L Knowlton
Daniel S Gruner
David J Flaspohler
Christian P Giardina
Devin R Leopold
Anna Buckardt
William C Pitt
Tadashi Fukami
author_facet Erin E Wilson Rankin
Jessie L Knowlton
Daniel S Gruner
David J Flaspohler
Christian P Giardina
Devin R Leopold
Anna Buckardt
William C Pitt
Tadashi Fukami
author_sort Erin E Wilson Rankin
title Vertical foraging shifts in Hawaiian forest birds in response to invasive rat removal.
title_short Vertical foraging shifts in Hawaiian forest birds in response to invasive rat removal.
title_full Vertical foraging shifts in Hawaiian forest birds in response to invasive rat removal.
title_fullStr Vertical foraging shifts in Hawaiian forest birds in response to invasive rat removal.
title_full_unstemmed Vertical foraging shifts in Hawaiian forest birds in response to invasive rat removal.
title_sort vertical foraging shifts in hawaiian forest birds in response to invasive rat removal.
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate 2018
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0202869
https://doaj.org/article/f4a3c918667647cfaf28c1e6a5157bd0
genre Rattus rattus
genre_facet Rattus rattus
op_source PLoS ONE, Vol 13, Iss 9, p e0202869 (2018)
op_relation http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC6152863?pdf=render
https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203
1932-6203
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0202869
https://doaj.org/article/f4a3c918667647cfaf28c1e6a5157bd0
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