Dietary divergence is associated with increased intra-specific competition in a marine predator

• Published in: Scientific Reports
• Main Authors: Ratcliffe, Norman, Adlard, Stacey, Stowasser, Gabriele, McGill, Rona
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer 2018
• Subjects: Bird Island
• Online Access: http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/519868/; https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/519868/1/Ratcliffe.pdf; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-25318-7

Optimal foraging theory predicts that when food is plentiful all individuals should take a small range of preferred prey types, but as competition increases less preferred prey will be included in the diet. This dietary switching may not be uniform among individuals, which produces discrete dietary...