Dataset Information

Inter-Specific and Intra-Specific Competition of Two Sympatrically Breeding Seabirds, Chinstrap and Gentoo Penguins, at Two Neighboring Colonies.

ABSTRACT: Theory predicts that sympatric predators compete for food under conditions of limited resources. Competition would occur even within the same species, between neighboring populations, because of overlapping foraging habits. Thus, neighboring populations of the same species are hypothesized to face strong competition. To test the hypothesis that intra-specific competition is more intense than inter-specific competition owing to a lack of niche partitioning, we estimated the foraging area and diving depths of two colonial seabird species at two neighboring colonies. Using GPS and time-depth recorders, we tracked foraging space use of sympatric breeding Chinstrap and Gentoo penguins at Ardley Island (AI) and Nar?bski Point (NP) at King George Island, Antarctica. GPS tracks showed that there was a larger overlap in the foraging areas between the two species than within each species. In dive parameters, Gentoo penguins performed deeper and longer dives than Chinstrap penguins at the same colonies. At the colony level, Gentoo penguins from NP undertook deeper and longer dives than those at AI, whereas Chinstrap penguins did not show such intra-specific differences in dives. Stable isotope analysis of ?¹³C and ?¹⁵N isotopes in blood demonstrated both inter- and intra-specific differences. Both species of penguin at AI exhibited higher ?¹³C and ?¹⁵N values than those at NP, and in both locations, Gentoo penguins had higher ?¹³C and lower ?¹⁵N values than Chinstrap penguins. Isotopic niches showed that there were lower inter-specific overlaps than intra-specific overlaps. This suggests that, despite the low intra-specific spatial overlap, diets of conspecifics from different colonies remained more similar, resulting in the higher isotopic niche overlaps. Collectively, our results support the hypothesis that intra-specific competition is higher than inter-specific competition, leading to spatial segregation of the neighboring populations of the same species.

SUBMITTER: Lee WY

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7918894 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Inter-Specific and Intra-Specific Competition of Two Sympatrically Breeding Seabirds, Chinstrap and Gentoo Penguins, at Two Neighboring Colonies.

Lee Won Young WY Park Seongseop S Kim Kil Won KW Kim Jeong-Hoon JH Gal Jong-Ku JK Chung Hosung H

Animals : an open access journal from MDPI 20210211 2

Theory predicts that sympatric predators compete for food under conditions of limited resources. Competition would occur even within the same species, between neighboring populations, because of overlapping foraging habits. Thus, neighboring populations of the same species are hypothesized to face strong competition. To test the hypothesis that intra-specific competition is more intense than inter-specific competition owing to a lack of niche partitioning, we estimated the foraging area and divi ...[more]

PMID: 33670422

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Project description:IntroductionThe study explores the indirect impact of climate change driven by gentoo's penguin colonization pressure on the microbial communities of moss banks formed by Tall moss turf subformation in central maritime Antarctica.MethodsMicrobial communities and chemical composition of the differently affected moss banks (Unaffected, Impacted and Desolated) located on Galindez Island and Сape Tuxen on the mainland of Kyiv Peninsula were analyzed.ResultsThe native microbiota of the moss banks' peat was analyzed for the first time, revealing a predominant presence of Acidobacteria (32.2 ± 14.4%), followed by Actinobacteria (15.1 ± 4.0%) and Alphaproteobacteria (9.7 ± 4.1%). Penguin colonization and subsequent desolation of moss banks resulted in an increase in peat pH (from 4.7 ± 0.05 to 7.2 ± 0.6) and elevated concentrations of soluble nitrogen (from 1.8 ± 0.4 to 46.9 ± 2.1 DIN, mg/kg) and soluble phosphorus compounds (from 3.6 ± 2.6 to 20.0 ± 1.8 DIP, mg/kg). The contrasting composition of peat and penguin feces led to the elimination of the initial peat microbiota, with an increase in Betaproteobacteria (from 1.3 ± 0.8% to 30.5 ± 23%) and Bacteroidota (from 5.5 ± 3.7% to 19.0 ± 3.7%) proportional to the intensity of penguins' impact, accompanied by a decrease in community diversity. Microbial taxa associated with birds' guts, such as Gottschalkia and Tissierella, emerged in Impacted and Desolated moss banks, along with bacteria likely benefiting from eutrophication. The changes in the functional capacity of the penguin-affected peat microbial communities were also detected. The nitrogen-cycling genes that regulate the conversion of urea into ammonia, nitrite oxide, and nitrate oxide (ureC, amoA, nirS, nosZ, nxrB) had elevated copy numbers in the affected peat. Desolated peat samples exhibit the highest nitrogen-cycle gene numbers, significantly differing from Unaffected peat (p < 0.05).DiscussionThe expansion of gentoo penguins induced by climate change led to the replacement of acidophilic microbiomes associated with moss banks, shaping a new microbial community influenced by penguin guano's chemical and microbial composition.

Dataset Information

Inter-Specific and Intra-Specific Competition of Two Sympatrically Breeding Seabirds, Chinstrap and Gentoo Penguins, at Two Neighboring Colonies.

Publications

Inter-Specific and Intra-Specific Competition of Two Sympatrically Breeding Seabirds, Chinstrap and Gentoo Penguins, at Two Neighboring Colonies.

Similar Datasets

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