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DNA metabarcoding and spatial modelling link diet diversification with distribution homogeneity in European bats.

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 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.

SUBMITTER: Alberdi A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7052159 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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DNA metabarcoding and spatial modelling link diet diversification with distribution homogeneity in European bats.

Alberdi Antton A Razgour Orly O Aizpurua Ostaizka O Novella-Fernandez Roberto R Aihartza Joxerra J Budinski Ivana I Garin Inazio I Ibáñez Carlos C Izagirre Eñaut E Rebelo Hugo H Russo Danilo D Vlaschenko Anton A Zhelyazkova Violeta V Zrnčić Vida V Gilbert M Thomas P MTP

Nature communications 20200302 1

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 distributi ...[more]

PMID: 32123172

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Project description:Species distribution modelling (SDM) gained importance on biodiversity distribution and conservation studies worldwide, including prioritizing areas for public policies and international treaties. Useful for large-scale approaches and species distribution estimates, it is a plus considering that a minor fraction of the planet is adequately sampled. However, minimizing errors is challenging, but essential, considering the uses and consequences of such models. In situ validation of the SDM outputs should be a key-step-in some cases, urgent. Bioacoustics can be used to validate and refine those outputs, especially if the focal species' vocalizations are conspicuous and species-specific. This is the case of echolocating bats. Here, we used extensive acoustic monitoring (>120 validation points over an area of >758,000 km2, and producing >300,000 sound files) to validate MaxEnt outputs for six neotropical bat species in a poorly-sampled region of Brazil. Based on in situ validation, we evaluated four threshold-dependent theoretical evaluation metrics' ability in predicting models' performance. We also assessed the performance of three widely used thresholds to convert continuous SDMs into presence/absence maps. We demonstrated that MaxEnt produces very different outputs, requiring a careful choice on thresholds and modeling parameters. Although all theoretical evaluation metrics studied were positively correlated with accuracy, we empirically demonstrated that metrics based on specificity-sensitivity and sensitivity-precision are better for testing models, considering that most SDMs are based on unbalanced data. Without independent field validation, we found that using an arbitrary threshold for modelling can be a precarious approach with many possible outcomes, even after getting good evaluation scores. Bioacoustics proved to be important for validating SDMs for the six bat species analyzed, allowing a better refinement of SDMs in large and under-sampled regions, with relatively low sampling effort. Regardless of the species assessing method used, our research highlighted the vital necessity of in situ validation for SDMs.

Dataset Information

DNA metabarcoding and spatial modelling link diet diversification with distribution homogeneity in European bats.

Publications

DNA metabarcoding and spatial modelling link diet diversification with distribution homogeneity in European bats.

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