Spatio-temporal patterns in arctic fox (Vulpes alopex) diets revealed by molecular analysis of scats from Northeast Greenland
The arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) is endemic to the Arctic where it holds a central position in the trophic interactions. The diet of the species has previously been described as being highly flexible, but whether this flexibility is a constant trait through time, or merely reflects fast temporal chan...
Published in: | Polar Science |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
Other Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Elsevier B. V. & National Institute of Polar Research
2022
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10138/345512 |
id |
ftunivhelsihelda:oai:helda.helsinki.fi:10138/345512 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunivhelsihelda:oai:helda.helsinki.fi:10138/345512 2024-01-07T09:40:47+01:00 Spatio-temporal patterns in arctic fox (Vulpes alopex) diets revealed by molecular analysis of scats from Northeast Greenland Schmidt, Niels Martin Roslin, Tomas Hansen, Lars Holst Gilg, Olivier Lang, Johannes Sittler, Benoit Hansen, Jannik Bollache, Loic University of Helsinki Department of Agricultural Sciences Biosciences Spatial Foodweb Ecology Group 2022-06-27T10:50:04Z 8 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10138/345512 eng eng Elsevier B. V. & National Institute of Polar Research 10.1016/j.polar.2022.100838 We thank the Greenland Ecosystem Monitoring program for access to ecosystem data, Aarhus University for logistic support at Zackenberg, the Functional Genomics Unit, University of Helsinki, Finland, and CSC-IT Center for Science Ltd., Espoo, Finland, for allocating computational resources. We are indebted to Aage V. Jensen Charity Foundation and to the French Polar Institute (IPEV; grant #1036 program "Interactions") for their financial support. We thank I. Leonhardt, B. Frauenberger, P. Weiner and A. Lang who helped collecting scats at Karupelv, B. Sabard, E. Buchel, C. Boiteau, V. Heuacker and V. Gilg who helped at Hochstetter, and P.S. Nielsen who helped at Zackenberg. Schmidt , N M , Roslin , T , Hansen , L H , Gilg , O , Lang , J , Sittler , B , Hansen , J & Bollache , L 2022 , ' Spatio-temporal patterns in arctic fox (Vulpes alopex) diets revealed by molecular analysis of scats from Northeast Greenland ' , Polar Science , vol. 32 , 100838 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polar.2022.100838 ORCID: /0000-0002-2957-4791/work/115270876 1cc97f6b-db96-4c0c-a3b7-f808f42820bc http://hdl.handle.net/10138/345512 000809841900004 cc_by openAccess info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Greenland Metabarcoding Predation Trophic interactions Tundra POPULATION-DYNAMICS PREY AVAILABILITY LAGOPUS SUMMER RESPONSES PREDATORS HABITS 1181 Ecology evolutionary biology Article publishedVersion 2022 ftunivhelsihelda 2023-12-14T00:14:17Z The arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) is endemic to the Arctic where it holds a central position in the trophic interactions. The diet of the species has previously been described as being highly flexible, but whether this flexibility is a constant trait through time, or merely reflects fast temporal changes in abundance among prey taxa, has so far been poorly resolved. Using molecular analyses of arctic fox scats from Northeast Greenland, we first examined the temporal dynamics of arctic fox diets during the short snow-free season, and then examined whether local food availability at different sites affected arctic fox dependence on lemmings. Arctic fox diets included most terrestrial vertebrate species found in the region, and exhibited substantial temporal changes, generally reflecting the dynamic changes in prey availability from late winter through autumn. This dietary flexibility was also reflected geographically, with arctic foxes consuming a variety of local prey (mainly waterfowl and lemmings) in summer. Moreover, the dietary response of arctic foxes to changes in lemming abundance depended on access to non-lemming prey. Based on these findings, we discuss whether varying degrees of lemming-dependency, combined with geographical differences in winter food availability, may explain previously published differences in arctic fox breeding patterns in high arctic Greenland. Peer reviewed Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Fox Arctic Greenland Polar Science Polar Science Tundra Vulpes lagopus HELDA – University of Helsinki Open Repository Arctic Greenland Polar Science 32 100838 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
HELDA – University of Helsinki Open Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivhelsihelda |
language |
English |
topic |
Greenland Metabarcoding Predation Trophic interactions Tundra POPULATION-DYNAMICS PREY AVAILABILITY LAGOPUS SUMMER RESPONSES PREDATORS HABITS 1181 Ecology evolutionary biology |
spellingShingle |
Greenland Metabarcoding Predation Trophic interactions Tundra POPULATION-DYNAMICS PREY AVAILABILITY LAGOPUS SUMMER RESPONSES PREDATORS HABITS 1181 Ecology evolutionary biology Schmidt, Niels Martin Roslin, Tomas Hansen, Lars Holst Gilg, Olivier Lang, Johannes Sittler, Benoit Hansen, Jannik Bollache, Loic Spatio-temporal patterns in arctic fox (Vulpes alopex) diets revealed by molecular analysis of scats from Northeast Greenland |
topic_facet |
Greenland Metabarcoding Predation Trophic interactions Tundra POPULATION-DYNAMICS PREY AVAILABILITY LAGOPUS SUMMER RESPONSES PREDATORS HABITS 1181 Ecology evolutionary biology |
description |
The arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) is endemic to the Arctic where it holds a central position in the trophic interactions. The diet of the species has previously been described as being highly flexible, but whether this flexibility is a constant trait through time, or merely reflects fast temporal changes in abundance among prey taxa, has so far been poorly resolved. Using molecular analyses of arctic fox scats from Northeast Greenland, we first examined the temporal dynamics of arctic fox diets during the short snow-free season, and then examined whether local food availability at different sites affected arctic fox dependence on lemmings. Arctic fox diets included most terrestrial vertebrate species found in the region, and exhibited substantial temporal changes, generally reflecting the dynamic changes in prey availability from late winter through autumn. This dietary flexibility was also reflected geographically, with arctic foxes consuming a variety of local prey (mainly waterfowl and lemmings) in summer. Moreover, the dietary response of arctic foxes to changes in lemming abundance depended on access to non-lemming prey. Based on these findings, we discuss whether varying degrees of lemming-dependency, combined with geographical differences in winter food availability, may explain previously published differences in arctic fox breeding patterns in high arctic Greenland. Peer reviewed |
author2 |
University of Helsinki Department of Agricultural Sciences Biosciences Spatial Foodweb Ecology Group |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Schmidt, Niels Martin Roslin, Tomas Hansen, Lars Holst Gilg, Olivier Lang, Johannes Sittler, Benoit Hansen, Jannik Bollache, Loic |
author_facet |
Schmidt, Niels Martin Roslin, Tomas Hansen, Lars Holst Gilg, Olivier Lang, Johannes Sittler, Benoit Hansen, Jannik Bollache, Loic |
author_sort |
Schmidt, Niels Martin |
title |
Spatio-temporal patterns in arctic fox (Vulpes alopex) diets revealed by molecular analysis of scats from Northeast Greenland |
title_short |
Spatio-temporal patterns in arctic fox (Vulpes alopex) diets revealed by molecular analysis of scats from Northeast Greenland |
title_full |
Spatio-temporal patterns in arctic fox (Vulpes alopex) diets revealed by molecular analysis of scats from Northeast Greenland |
title_fullStr |
Spatio-temporal patterns in arctic fox (Vulpes alopex) diets revealed by molecular analysis of scats from Northeast Greenland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Spatio-temporal patterns in arctic fox (Vulpes alopex) diets revealed by molecular analysis of scats from Northeast Greenland |
title_sort |
spatio-temporal patterns in arctic fox (vulpes alopex) diets revealed by molecular analysis of scats from northeast greenland |
publisher |
Elsevier B. V. & National Institute of Polar Research |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10138/345512 |
geographic |
Arctic Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Greenland |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Fox Arctic Greenland Polar Science Polar Science Tundra Vulpes lagopus |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Fox Arctic Greenland Polar Science Polar Science Tundra Vulpes lagopus |
op_relation |
10.1016/j.polar.2022.100838 We thank the Greenland Ecosystem Monitoring program for access to ecosystem data, Aarhus University for logistic support at Zackenberg, the Functional Genomics Unit, University of Helsinki, Finland, and CSC-IT Center for Science Ltd., Espoo, Finland, for allocating computational resources. We are indebted to Aage V. Jensen Charity Foundation and to the French Polar Institute (IPEV; grant #1036 program "Interactions") for their financial support. We thank I. Leonhardt, B. Frauenberger, P. Weiner and A. Lang who helped collecting scats at Karupelv, B. Sabard, E. Buchel, C. Boiteau, V. Heuacker and V. Gilg who helped at Hochstetter, and P.S. Nielsen who helped at Zackenberg. Schmidt , N M , Roslin , T , Hansen , L H , Gilg , O , Lang , J , Sittler , B , Hansen , J & Bollache , L 2022 , ' Spatio-temporal patterns in arctic fox (Vulpes alopex) diets revealed by molecular analysis of scats from Northeast Greenland ' , Polar Science , vol. 32 , 100838 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polar.2022.100838 ORCID: /0000-0002-2957-4791/work/115270876 1cc97f6b-db96-4c0c-a3b7-f808f42820bc http://hdl.handle.net/10138/345512 000809841900004 |
op_rights |
cc_by openAccess info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
container_title |
Polar Science |
container_volume |
32 |
container_start_page |
100838 |
_version_ |
1787421573838274560 |