Sources of variation in small rodent trophic niche: new insights from DNA metabarcoding and stable isotope analysis

• Published in: Isotopes in environmental and health studies Vol. 50; no. 3; pp. 361 - 381
• Main Authors: Soininen, Eeva M., Ehrich, Dorothée, Lecomte, Nicolas, Yoccoz, Nigel G., Tarroux, Arnaud, Berteaux, Dominique, Gauthier, Gilles, Gielly, Ludovic, Brochmann, Christian, Gussarova, Galina, Ims, Rolf A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Taylor & Francis 01.01.2014
• Subjects: Animals; Arctic Regions; Arvicolinae - physiology; Carbon Isotopes - metabolism; carbon-13; competition; diet; diet diversity; DNA; DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic; DNA metabarcoding; Ecosystem; Environmental Sciences; Food Chain; habitat use; habitats; herbivore; herbivores; intraspecific competition; isotope ecology; Lichens - metabolism; Mass Spectrometry; Nitrogen Isotopes - metabolism; nitrogen-15; Norway; Nunavut; population density; rodents; Russia; stable isotopes; stomach; temporal variation; trophic niche width; tundra food web; VDP:488; Viridiplantae - metabolism; Nunavut; Arctic Regions; Norway; Russia; nitrogen-15; DNA metabarcoding; tundra food web; habitat use; isotope ecology; competition; animals; carbon-13; diet diversity; herbivore; trophic niche width
• ISSN: 1477-2639; 1025-6016; 1477-2639
• DOI: 10.1080/10256016.2014.915824

Intraspecific competition for food is expected to increase the trophic niche width of consumers, defined here as their diet diversity, but this process has been little studied in herbivores. Population densities of small rodents fluctuate greatly, providing a good study model to evaluate effects of competition on trophic niche. We studied resource use in five arctic small rodent populations of four species combining DNA metabarcoding of stomach contents and stable isotope analysis (SIA). Our results suggest that for small rodents, the most pronounced effect of competition on trophic niche is due to increased use of secondary habitats and to habitat-specific diets, rather than an expansion of trophic niche in primary habitat. DNA metabarcoding and SIA provided complementary information about the composition and temporal variation of herbivore diets. Combing these two approaches requires caution, as the underlying processes causing observed patterns may differ between methodologies due to different spatiotemporal scales.