DNA metabarcoding and spatial modelling link diet diversification with distribution homogeneity in European bats
Alberdi, A; Razgour, O; Aizpurua, O; et al.Novella-Fernandez, R; Aihartza, J; Budinski, I; Garin, I; Ibáñez, C; Izagirre, E; Rebelo, H; Russo, D; Vlaschenko, A; Zhelyazkova, V; Zrncic, V; Gilbert, MTP
Date: 2 March 2020
Journal
Nature Communications
Publisher
Nature Research
Publisher DOI
Abstract
Inferences of the interactions between species’ ecological niches and spatial distribution
have been historically based on simple metrics such as low-resolution dietary breadth and
range size, which might have impeded the identification of meaningful links between niche
features and spatial patterns. We analysed the relationship ...
Inferences of the interactions between species’ ecological niches and spatial distribution
have been historically based on simple metrics such as low-resolution dietary breadth and
range size, which might have impeded the identification of meaningful links between niche
features and spatial patterns. We analysed the relationship between dietary niche breadth
and spatial distribution features of European bats, by combining continent-wide DNA
metabarcoding of faecal samples with species distribution modelling. We used the
statistical framework developed around Hill numbers to unveil different components of
dietary and spatial features. Our results show that while range size is not correlated with
dietary features of bats, the homogeneity of the spatial distribution of species exhibits a
strong correlation with dietary breadth. We also found that dietary breadth is correlated
with bats’ hunting flexibility. However, these two patterns only stand when the
phylogenetic relations between prey are accounted for when measuring dietary breadth.
Our results suggest that the capacity to exploit different prey types enables species to
thrive in more distinct environments and therefore exhibit more homogeneous
distributions within their ranges.
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