Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Life Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Selected Works

Diet

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Geographic Variability Of Octopus Insularis Diet: From Oceanic Island To Continental Populations, Tatiana S. Leite, Allan T. Batista, Françoise D. Lima, Jaciana C. Barbosa, Jennifer A. Mather Aug 2019

Geographic Variability Of Octopus Insularis Diet: From Oceanic Island To Continental Populations, Tatiana S. Leite, Allan T. Batista, Françoise D. Lima, Jaciana C. Barbosa, Jennifer A. Mather

Jennifer Mather, PhD

A predator’s choice of prey can be affected by many factors. We evaluated various influences on population dietary composition, individual specialization and size of prey in Octopus insularis populations from 2 continental and 4 insular locations. We expected that habitat diversity would lead to diet heterogeneity. Furthermore, in keeping with MacArthur & Wilson’s (1967) theory of island biogeography, we expected that diet diversity would be lower around islands than on the coast of the mainland. Both predictions were confirmed when prey remains from octopus middens were examined. The 2 continental areas exhibited a richer habitat diversity and a wider variety …


2017_Murphy Et Al._Food Habits Of A Small Fl Bear Population In Endangered Ecosystem.Pdf, Sean M. Murphy, Wade A. Ulrey, Joseph M. Guthrie, David S. Maehr, Warren G. Abrahamson Ii, Sutton C. Maehr, John J. Cox Jun 2017

2017_Murphy Et Al._Food Habits Of A Small Fl Bear Population In Endangered Ecosystem.Pdf, Sean M. Murphy, Wade A. Ulrey, Joseph M. Guthrie, David S. Maehr, Warren G. Abrahamson Ii, Sutton C. Maehr, John J. Cox

Warren G. Abrahamson, II

The Highlands–Glades subpopulation (HGS) of Florida, USA, black bears (Ursus americanus floridanus) is small, genetically depauperate, and resides primarily within the endangered Lake Wales Ridge ecosystem, which has lost >85% of native habitat to land development. Habitat loss can reduce availability of critical natural foods and cause bears to increase reliance on anthropogenic foods (i.e., human-sourced); lands supporting the HGS are expected to lose >50% of remaining Florida black bear habitat in coming decades. We used scat analysis to describe seasonal food habits, investigate potential dietary responses to food shortages, and inform habitat conservation and human–bear conflict management. …