Pubblicazione scientifica

Prey diversity as a driver of resource partitioning between river‐dwelling fish species

FILONE TECNOLOGICO	TEMA
economia circolare e sostenibilità
produzione e cattura
trasformazione e commercializzazione

RIASSUNTO

Abstract

Although food resource partitioning among sympatric species has often been explored in riverine systems, the potential influence of prey diversity on resource partitioning is little known. Using empirical data, we modeled food resource partitioning (assessed as dietary overlap) of coexisting juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and alpine bullhead (Cottus poecilopus). Explanatory variables incorporated into the model were fish abundance, benthic prey diversity and abundance, and several dietary metrics to give a total of seventeen potential explanatory variables. First, a forward stepwise procedure based on the Akaike information criterion was used to select explanatory variables with significant effects on food resource partitioning. Then, linear mixed‐effect models were constructed using the selected explanatory variables and with sampling site as a random factor. Food resource partitioning between salmon and bullhead increased significantly with increasing prey diversity, and the variation in food resource partitioning was best described by the model that included prey diversity as the only explanatory variable. This study provides empirical support for the notion that prey diversity is a key driver of resource partitioning among competing species.

DATA

Data di pubblicazione: 26/02/2017

AUTORI

SANCHEZ‐HERNANDEZ JAVIER
GABLER HEIDI‐MARIE
AMUNDSEN PER‐ARNE

ENTE DI AFFERENZA

DEPT ARCTIC & MARINE BIOLOGY FACULTY OF BIOSCIENCES FISHERIES & ECONOMICS UIT ARCTIC UNIV NORWAY TROMS NORWAY
DEPT ZOOLOGY GENETICS & PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY FACULTY OF BIOLOGY UNIV SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA SPAIN

RIVISTA

Ecology and Evolution, 7(7), 2058-2068

IMPACT FACTOR

2,540

indietro