Dietary partitioning and competition between sika deer and Japanese serows in high elevation habitats
Dietary partitioning and competition between sika deer and Japanese serows in high elevation habitats
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DOI：
10.1007/s13364-023-00683-5
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发表时间：
2023-03-29
期刊：
影响因子：
1.5
通讯作者：
Koike，Shinsuke
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Hiruma，Mitsuko;Takada，Hayato;Koike，Shinsuke
环境条件如何促进种间生态位重叠和竞争的发生长期以来一直引起生态学家的兴趣。在本地有蹄类动物组合中，基于种间饮食偏好差异的饮食分配经常被报道，但表明竞争的饮食重叠相对较少。在日本，本土梅花鹿（Cervus nippon）入侵高海拔山区，对那里的植被造成了负面影响，而本土日本鬣羚（Capricornis Cripus）在这些地区的数量有所减少。然而，在这些地区，这些物种之间与饮食相关的种间关系仍不清楚。我们研究了鹿和羚羊的饮食，以及日本中部富士山的亚高山森林和高山沙漠中的饲料供应情况。亚高山森林提供禾本科植物和针叶树，而高山沙漠提供均匀的双子叶植物叶子，这两种栖息地的饲料丰度都相当有限。在亚高山森林中，鹿主要以禾本科植物为食，而鬣羚主要以针叶树叶子为食，这表明食物资源的分配。相比之下，在高山沙漠中，这两个物种主要以双子叶植物叶子为食，导致饮食重叠。我们首次表明，当共享食物资源有限时，这两个物种的饮食重叠，这表明高山沙漠中可能会发生食物资源竞争。这些结果表明，当食物资源多样性和丰度都有限时，即使在具有不同饮食偏好的本地物种之间，也会发生食物资源竞争。
How environmental conditions promote interspecific niche overlap and the occurrence of competition has long intrigued ecologists. In native ungulate assemblages, dietary partitioning based on interspecific differences in diet preferences has often been reported, but dietary overlap indicating competition is relatively rare. In Japan, native sika deer (Cervus nippon) have invaded high-elevation mountain areas and negatively affected the vegetation there, whereas native Japanese serows (Capricornis crispus) have declined in these areas. However, diet-related interspecific relationships between these species remain unclear in these areas. We examined the diets of deer and serows, and the forage availability in a subalpine forest and an alpine desert of Mt. Fuji, central Japan. The subalpine forest provided both graminoids and coniferous trees, while the alpine desert provided a homogeneous supply of dicot leaves, and forage abundance of both habitats was quite limited. In the subalpine forest, deer fed mainly on graminoids while serows fed mainly on conifer leaves, suggesting partitioning of food resources. By contrast, in the alpine desert, both species fed mainly on dicot leaves, resulting in dietary overlap. We show for the first time that the diets of these two species overlap when shared food resources are limited, suggesting that food resource competition is likely to occur in the alpine desert. These results suggest that food resource competition can occur when both food resource diversity and abundance are limited, even among native species with different diet preferences.