Ontogenetic variation in the diet of the anuran community from a semi-arid environment in the southeastern Chihuahuan Desert.

ABSTRACT: Although ontogeny influences dietary composition and trophic niche breadth in many anurans, its effects on diet have been little analyzed in sympatric species. In this study, we analyzed interspecific and ontogenetic variation in dietary composition and trophic niche width in an anuran community from a semi-arid environment. We found a more profound effect of species identity than body size on dietary composition, with the diet of four species dominated by formicids, that of two others by coleopterans and formicids, and that of the remaining species not dominated by specific prey types. We found ontogenetic changes in dietary composition in three of four species analyzed, in which consumption of some small insects decreased as predator size increased, regardless of species. Additionally, w

SUBMITTER: Luria-Manzano R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6802674 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature