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Balestrieri A, Gigliotti S, Caniglia R, Velli E, Zambuto F, De Giorgi E, Mucci N, Tremolada P, Gazzola A. Nutritional ecology of a prototypical generalist predator, the red fox (Vulpes vulpes). Sci Rep 2024; 14:7918. [PMID: 38575633 PMCID: PMC10995161 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-58711-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2024] [Accepted: 04/02/2024] [Indexed: 04/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Generalist species, which exploit a wide range of food resources, are expected to be able to combine available resources as to attain their specific macronutrient ratio (percentage of caloric intake of protein, lipids and carbohydrates). Among mammalian predators, the red fox Vulpes vulpes is a widespread, opportunistic forager: its diet has been largely studied, outlining wide variation according to geographic and climatic factors. We aimed to check if, throughout the species' European range, diets vary widely in macronutrient composition or foxes can combine complementary foods to gain the same nutrient intake. First, we assessed fox's intake target in the framework of nutritional geometry. Secondly, we aimed to highlight the effects of unbalanced diets on fox density, which was assumed as a proxy for Darwinian fitness, as assessed in five areas of the western Italian Alps. Unexpectedly, the target macronutrient ratio of the fox (52.4% protein-, 38.7% lipid- and 8.9% carbohydrate energy) was consistent with that of hypercarnivores, such as wolves and felids, except for carbohydrate intakes in urban and rural habitats. The inverse relation between density and the deviation of observed macronutrient ratios from the intake target suggests that fox capability of surviving in a wide range of habitats may not be exempt from fitness costs and that nutrient availability should be regarded among the biotic factors affecting animal abundance and distribution.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Balestrieri
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Politiche Ambientali, Università di Milano, via Celoria 26, 20133, Milan, Italy.
| | - S Gigliotti
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Padova, via Ugo Bassi 58/B, 35131, Padua, Italy
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e dell'Ambiente, Università di Pavia, 27100, Pavia, Italy
| | - R Caniglia
- Area per la Genetica della Conservazione, Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), via Ca' Fornacetta 9, Ozzano Emilia, 40064, Bologna, Italy
| | - E Velli
- Area per la Genetica della Conservazione, Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), via Ca' Fornacetta 9, Ozzano Emilia, 40064, Bologna, Italy
| | - F Zambuto
- IRCCS Ospedale Galeazzi-Sant'Ambrogio, via C. Belgioioso 173, 20161, Milano, Italy
| | - E De Giorgi
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e dell'Ambiente, Università di Pavia, 27100, Pavia, Italy
| | - N Mucci
- Area per la Genetica della Conservazione, Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), via Ca' Fornacetta 9, Ozzano Emilia, 40064, Bologna, Italy
| | - P Tremolada
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Politiche Ambientali, Università di Milano, via Celoria 26, 20133, Milan, Italy
| | - A Gazzola
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e dell'Ambiente, Università di Pavia, 27100, Pavia, Italy
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2
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De Cuyper A, Strubbe D, Clauss M, Lens L, Zedrosser A, Steyaert S, Verbist L, Janssens GPJ. Nutrient intake and its possible drivers in free-ranging European brown bears ( Ursus arctos arctos). Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10156. [PMID: 37261316 PMCID: PMC10227639 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2022] [Revised: 05/02/2023] [Accepted: 05/18/2023] [Indexed: 06/02/2023] Open
Abstract
The dietary nutrient profile has metabolic significance and possibly contributes to species' foraging behavior. The brown bear (Ursus arctos) was used as a model species for which dietary ingredient and nutrient concentrations as well as nutrient ratios were determined annually, seasonally and per reproductive class. Brown bears had a vertebrate- and ant-dominated diet in spring and early summer and a berry-dominated diet in fall, which translated into protein-rich and carbohydrate-rich diets, respectively. Fiber concentrations appeared constant over time and averaged at 25% of dry matter intake. Dietary ingredient proportions differed between reproductive classes; however, these differences did not translate into a difference in dietary nutrient concentrations, suggesting that bears manage to maintain similar nutrient profiles with selection of different ingredients. In terms of nutrient ratios, the dietary protein to non-protein ratio, considered optimal at around 0.2 (on metabolizable energy basis), averaged around 0.2 in this study in fall and around 0.8 in spring and summer. We introduced the minimal non-fat to fat ratio necessary for efficient maintenance metabolism. This ratio varied across seasons but never fell beneath the theoretically estimated minimum to ensure metabolic efficiency. This population thus managed to ingest diets that never exerted a lack of glucogenic substrate, suggesting that metabolic efficiency may either be a driver of active diet selection or that natural resources available to bears did not constitute a constraint in this respect. Given the considerable proportion of fiber in the diet of brown bears, the relevance of this nutrient and its role in foraging behavior might be underestimated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annelies De Cuyper
- Department of Veterinary and Biosciences, Faculty of Veterinary MedicineGhent UniversityMerelbekeBelgium
| | - Diederik Strubbe
- Terrestrial Ecology Unit, Department of Biology, Faculty of SciencesGhent UniversityGhentBelgium
| | - Marcus Clauss
- Clinic for Zoo Animals, Exotic Pets and Wildlife, Vetsuisse FacultyUniversity of ZurichZurichSwitzerland
| | - Luc Lens
- Terrestrial Ecology Unit, Department of Biology, Faculty of SciencesGhent UniversityGhentBelgium
| | - Andreas Zedrosser
- Department of Natural Sciences and Environmental Health, Faculty of Technology, Natural Sciences and Maritime SciencesUniversity of South‐Eastern NorwayBøNorway
- Institute for Wildlife Biology and Game ManagementUniversity for Natural Resources and Life SciencesViennaAustria
| | - Sam Steyaert
- Faculty of Biosciences and AquacultureNord UniversitySteinkjerNorway
| | - Leen Verbist
- Onderzoekskern Salto, Odisee Hogeschool, Campus Sint‐NiklaasSint‐NiklaasBelgium
| | - Geert P. J. Janssens
- Department of Veterinary and Biosciences, Faculty of Veterinary MedicineGhent UniversityMerelbekeBelgium
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3
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Burgos T, Salesa J, Fedriani JM, Escribano-Ávila G, Jiménez J, Krofel M, Cancio I, Hernández-Hernández J, Rodríguez-Siles J, Virgós E. Top-down and bottom-up effects modulate species co-existence in a context of top predator restoration. Sci Rep 2023; 13:4170. [PMID: 36914804 PMCID: PMC10011582 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-31105-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2022] [Accepted: 03/06/2023] [Indexed: 03/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Mesopredators abundance is often limited by top-order predators and also by key food resources. However, the contribution of these bidirectional forces to structure carnivore community is still unclear. Here, we studied how the presence and absence of an apex predator which is currently recovering its former distribution range, the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus), determined the absolute abundance and fine-scale spatiotemporal avoidance mechanisms of two sympatric mesocarnivores (stone marten Martes foina and common genet Genetta genetta) with different dietary plasticity. We hypothesized that the lynx causes a mesopredator suppression and subordinate predators develop segregation strategies in respect to their trophic niche breadth. We placed 120 camera-traps in Southern Spain for 8 months in two consecutive years to estimate mesocarnivore abundances by using SCR Bayesian models, prey availability and assess spatio-temporal patterns. We found that the lynx reduced mesocarnivore abundance up to 10 times. Stone marten, a mesopredator with a broad food resources spectrum, showed a total spatial exclusion with the apex predator. Meanwhile, fine-scale avoidance mechanisms allowed the genet to persist in low density inside lynx territories, probably taking advantage of high availability of its preferred prey. Thus, the strength of these top-down and bottom-up effects was rather species-specific. Given the recent recovery of large carnivore populations worldwide, variation in suppression levels on different mesopredator species could modify ecosystem functions provided by the carnivore community in contrasting ways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamara Burgos
- Área de Biodiversidad y Conservación, Departamento de Biología, Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica, Rey Juan Carlos University, Madrid, Spain.
| | - Javier Salesa
- Área de Biodiversidad y Conservación, Departamento de Biología, Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica, Rey Juan Carlos University, Madrid, Spain
| | - Jose María Fedriani
- Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificación CIDE, CSIC-UVEG-GV, Carretera de Moncada a Náquera, km 4,5., 46113, Moncada, Valencia, Spain
- Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD - CSIC), Seville, Spain
| | - Gema Escribano-Ávila
- Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution Department. Biological Science Faculty, Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Ciudad Universitaria, C/ José Antonio Novais 12, Madrid, Spain
| | - José Jiménez
- Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (CSIC-UCLM-JCCM), 13071, Ciudad Real, Spain
| | - Miha Krofel
- Department for Forestry, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Inmaculada Cancio
- Área de Biodiversidad y Conservación, Departamento de Biología, Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica, Rey Juan Carlos University, Madrid, Spain
- Asociación de Estudio y Conservación de Fauna Harmusch, C/San Antón 15, 1°, 13580, Almodóvar del Campo, Ciudad Real, Spain
| | - Javier Hernández-Hernández
- Área de Biodiversidad y Conservación, Departamento de Biología, Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica, Rey Juan Carlos University, Madrid, Spain
- Road Ecology Lab, Department of Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Javier Rodríguez-Siles
- Asociación de Estudio y Conservación de Fauna Harmusch, C/San Antón 15, 1°, 13580, Almodóvar del Campo, Ciudad Real, Spain
| | - Emilio Virgós
- Área de Biodiversidad y Conservación, Departamento de Biología, Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica, Rey Juan Carlos University, Madrid, Spain
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Shifting dietary habits linked with contrasting population trends of two sympatric mustelids (Martes foina and Mustela putorius) over 16 years. Glob Ecol Conserv 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
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Granata M, Mosini A, Piana M, Zambuto F, Capelli E, Balestrieri A. Nutritional ecology of martens (
Martes foina
and
Martes martes
) in the western Italian Alps. Ecol Res 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/1440-1703.12277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Marco Granata
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology University of Turin Turin Italy
| | - Andrea Mosini
- Valgrande Società Cooperativa‐Studi Verbania Possaccio Italy
| | - Manuel Piana
- Valgrande Società Cooperativa‐Studi Verbania Possaccio Italy
| | - Francesco Zambuto
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences University of Pavia Pavia Italy
| | - Enrica Capelli
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences University of Pavia Pavia Italy
| | - Alessandro Balestrieri
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences University of Pavia Pavia Italy
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Policy University of Milan Milan Italy
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Mori E, Fedele E, Greco I, Giampaoli Rustichelli M, Massolo A, Miniati S, Puppo F, Santini G, Zaccaroni M. Spatiotemporal activity of the pine marten
Martes martes
: Insights from an island population. Ecol Res 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/1440-1703.12269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Emiliano Mori
- National Research Council—Research Institute on Terrestrial Ecosystems—Via Madonna del Piano 10 Sesto Fiorentino Italy
| | - Ettore Fedele
- Department of Genetics University of Leicester Leicester UK
| | - Ilaria Greco
- Department of Biology University of Florence Sesto Fiorentino Italy
| | | | - Alessandro Massolo
- Ethology Unit, Department of Biology University of Pisa Pisa Italy
- UMR CNRS 6249 Chrono‐environnement Université Bourgogne Franche‐Comté Besançon France
| | - Silvia Miniati
- Department of Biology University of Florence Sesto Fiorentino Italy
| | - Francesca Puppo
- Tuscan Archipelago National Park Locality Enfola Livorno Italy
| | - Giacomo Santini
- Department of Biology University of Florence Sesto Fiorentino Italy
| | - Marco Zaccaroni
- Department of Biology University of Florence Sesto Fiorentino Italy
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Abstract
Here we advocate Cancer Community Ecology as a valuable focus of study in Cancer Biology. We hypothesize that the heterogeneity and characteristics of cancer cells within tumors should vary systematically in space and time and that cancer cells form local ecological communities within tumors. These communities possess limited numbers of species determined by local conditions, with each species in a community possessing predictable traits that enable them to cope with their particular environment and coexist with each other. We start with a discussion of concepts and assumptions that ecologists use to study closely related species. We then discuss the competitive exclusion principle as a means for knowing when two species should not coexist, and as an opening towards understanding how they can. We present the five major categories of mechanisms of coexistence that operate in nature and suggest that the same mechanisms apply towards understanding the diversification and coexistence of cancer cell species. They are: Food-Safety Tradeoffs, Diet Choice, Habitat Selection, Variance Partitioning, and Competition-Colonization Tradeoffs. For each mechanism, we discuss how it works in nature, how it might work in cancers, and its implications for therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Burt P Kotler
- Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, 108400Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel
| | - Joel S Brown
- Department of Integrated Mathematical Oncology and Program in Cancer Biology and Evolution, 25301Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, USA
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Spatial ecology of the stone marten in an Alpine area: combining camera-trapping and genetic surveys. MAMMAL RES 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s13364-021-00564-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
AbstractA species’ potential distribution can be modelled adequately only if no factor other than habitat availability affects its occurrences. Space use by stone marten Martes foina is likely to be affected by interspecific competition with the strictly related pine marten Martes martes, the latter being able to outcompete the first species in forested habitats. Hence, to point out the environmental factors which determine the distribution and density of the stone marten, a relatively understudied mesocarnivore, we applied two non-invasive survey methods, camera-trapping and faecal-DNA based genetic analysis, in an Alpine area where the pine marten was deemed to be absent (Val Grande National Park N Italy). Camera trapping was conducted from October 2014 to November 2015, using up to 27 cameras. Marten scats were searched for between July and November 2015 and, to assess density, in spring 2017. Species identification was accomplished by a PCR-RFLP method, while 17 autosomal microsatellites were used for individual identification. The stone marten occurred in all available habitats (83% of trapping sites and 73.2% of scats); nonetheless, habitat suitability, as assessed using MaxEnt, depended on four major land cover variables—rocky grasslands, rocks and debris, beech forests and chestnut forests—, martens selecting forests and avoiding open rocky areas. Sixteen individuals were identified, of which 14 related to each other, possibly forming six different groups. Using capwire estimators, density was assessed as 0.95 (0.7–1.3) ind/km2. In the study area, the widespread stone marten selected forested areas, attaining density values like those reported for the pine marten in northern Europe and suggesting that patterns of habitat selection may depend on the relative abundance of the two competing martens.
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9
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Spatial distribution of the pine marten (Martes martes) and stone marten (Martes foina) in the Italian Alps. Mamm Biol 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s42991-020-00098-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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