1. DNA metabarcoding and spatial modelling link diet diversification with distribution homogeneity in European bats
- Author
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Carlos F. Ibáñez, Roberto Novella-Fernandez, Joxerra Aihartza, Orly Razgour, Inazio Garin, Hugo Rebelo, Vida Zrncic, Danilo Russo, Anton Vlaschenko, Ivana Budinski, Antton Alberdi, Eñaut Izagirre, Violeta Zhelyazkova, M. Thomas P. Gilbert, Ostaizka Aizpurua, European Commission, Alberdi, A., Razgour, O., Aizpurua, O., Novella-Fernandez, R., Aihartza, J., Budinski, I., Garin, I., Ibanez, C., Izagirre, E., Rebelo, H., Russo, D., Vlaschenko, A., Zhelyazkova, V., Zrncic, V., and Gilbert, M. T. P.
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,0301 basic medicine ,Behavioural ecology ,Species distribution ,General Physics and Astronomy ,population ,01 natural sciences ,diet diversification ,Feces ,Chiroptera ,species richness ,lcsh:Science ,education.field_of_study ,Multidisciplinary ,Ecology ,Ecological genetics ,Europe ,Lepidoptera ,niche ,Phylogeography ,Biogeography ,phylogenetic diversity ,evenness ,hypothesis ,Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena ,chiroptera ,Science ,Niche ,Population ,bats ,selection ,Biology ,Spatial distribution ,010603 evolutionary biology ,Models, Biological ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,Article ,03 medical and health sciences ,distribution ,Animals ,DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic ,differentiation measures ,Community ecology ,education ,similarity ,Ecosystem ,Ecological niche ,Animal ,Diptera ,General Chemistry ,DNA ,Environmental niche modelling ,030104 developmental biology ,Predatory Behavior ,Spatial ecology ,lcsh:Q ,Fece ,Species richness - Abstract
Alberdi, Antton et al., 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. 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.
- Published
- 2020
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