Prey morphology constrains the feeding ecology of an aquatic generalist predator

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dc.contributor.authorWillson, John D.en
dc.contributor.authorHopkins, William A.en
dc.contributor.departmentFish and Wildlife Conservationen
dc.date.accessed2014-03-11en
dc.date.accessioned2014-03-27T13:05:58Zen
dc.date.available2014-03-27T13:05:58Zen
dc.date.issued2011-03en
dc.description.abstractResource availability and accessibility are primary factors guiding the distribution and abundance of organisms. For generalists, prey availability reflects both prey abundance and differences in quality among prey taxa. Although some aspects of prey quality, such as nutritional composition, are well studied, our understanding of how prey morphology contributes to overall prey quality is limited. Because snakes cannot reduce prey size by mastication, many aspects of their feeding ecology (e.g., maximum prey size, feeding performance, and the degree of postprandial locomotor impairment) may be affected by prey shape. We conducted a uniquely comprehensive comparison of prey quality for a generalist species, the banded watersnake (Nerodia fasciata), using prey that were similar in mass and presumably similar in nutritional composition but different in shape and habitat association. Specifically, we compared nutritional composition and shape of paedomorphic salamanders (Ambystoma talpoideum) and sunfish (Lepomis marginatus) and used a series of repeated-measures experiments to examine feeding performance (number of prey consumed, maximum prey size, and intra-oral transport time), digestive metabolism (specific dynamic action, SDA), and postprandial locomotor performance of snakes fed Ambystoma and Lepomis. Cost of digestion was similar between the prey types, likely reflecting their similar nutritional composition. However, snakes consumed larger Ambystoma than Lepomis and intra-oral transport time was much shorter for Ambystoma. Snakes fed Lepomis also suffered greater reduction in crawling speed than those fed Ambystoma. These differences highlight the need for behaviorally integrated approaches to understanding prey quality and support field observations of the importance of amphibian prey for juvenile watersnakes.en
dc.description.sponsorshipNational Science Foundation I0B-0615361en
dc.description.sponsorshipSociety for Integrative and Comparative Biologyen
dc.description.sponsorshipDepartment of Energy DE-FC-09-075R22506en
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationJohn D. Willson and William A. Hopkins 2011. Prey morphology constrains the feeding ecology of an aquatic generalist predator. Ecology 92:744-754. http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/10-0781.1en
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1890/10-0781.1en
dc.identifier.issn0012-9658en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/46813en
dc.identifier.urlhttp://www.esajournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1890/10-0781.1en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherEcological Society of Americaen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectambystoma talpoideumen
dc.subjectbanded watersnakesen
dc.subjectfeeding performanceen
dc.subjectintra-oral transporten
dc.subjectlepomis marginatusen
dc.subjectlocomotor performanceen
dc.subjectnerodiaen
dc.subjectfasciataen
dc.subjectprey handlingen
dc.subjectspecific dynamic actionen
dc.subjecthabitat structural complexityen
dc.subjectsnakes thamnophis-elegansen
dc.subjectjuvenileen
dc.subjectgarter snakesen
dc.subjectdynamic actionen
dc.subjectlocomotory performanceen
dc.subjectelaphe-quadrivirgataen
dc.subjectsprint performanceen
dc.subjecthandling behavioren
dc.subjectforagingen
dc.subjectecologyen
dc.subjectnerodia-fasciataen
dc.titlePrey morphology constrains the feeding ecology of an aquatic generalist predatoren
dc.title.serialEcologyen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten

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