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142312-Age-related variation in the trophic characteristics of a marsupal.pdf (1.06 MB)

Age-related variation in the trophic characteristics of a marsupial carnivore, the Tasmanian devil Sarcophilus harrisii

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posted on 2023-05-20, 20:09 authored by Bell, O, Menna JonesMenna Jones, Ruiz Aravena, M, Rodrigo Hamede RossRodrigo Hamede Ross, Bearhop, S, McDonald, RA
Age‐related changes in diet have implications for competitive interactions and for predator–prey dynamics, affecting individuals and groups at different life stages. To quantify patterns of variation and ontogenetic change in the diets of Tasmanian devils Sarcophilus harrisii, a threatened marsupial carnivore, we analyzed variation in the stable isotope composition of whisker tissue samples taken from 91 individual devils from Wilmot, Tasmania from December 2014 to February 2017. Both δ13C and δ15N decreased with increasing age in weaned Tasmanian devils, indicating that as they age devils rely less on small mammals and birds, and more on large herbivores. Devils <12 months old had broader group isotopic niches, as estimated by Bayesian standard ellipses (SEAB mode = 1.042) than devils from 12 to 23 months old (mode = 0.541) and devils ≥24 months old (mode = 0.532). Devils <24 months old had broader individual isotopic niches (SEAB mode range 0.492–1.083) than devils ≥24 months old (mode range 0.092–0.240). A decrease in δ15N from the older whisker sections to the more recently grown sections in devils <24 months old likely reflects the period of weaning in this species, as this pattern was not observed in devils ≥24 months old. Our data reveal changes in the isotopic composition of devil whiskers with increasing age, accompanied by a reduction in isotopic variation both among population age classes and within individuals, reflecting the effect of weaning in early life, and a likely shift from an initially diverse diet of small mammals, birds, and invertebrates towards increasing consumption of larger herbivores in adulthood.

Funding

National Institutes of Health

History

Publication title

Ecology and Evolution

Volume

10

Issue

14

Pagination

7861-7871

ISSN

2045-7758

Department/School

School of Natural Sciences

Publisher

John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Place of publication

United Kingdom

Rights statement

© 2020 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License, (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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  • Open

Socio-economic Objectives

Terrestrial biodiversity

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