The division of food space among mammalian species on biomes
Understanding how species’ ecological partitioning functions across biomes is fun- damental to macroecology and conservation biology. Here, we examine the global distribution of dietary strategies in terrestrial mammals, focusing on how biome spe- cialization modulates trophic diversity and structur...
| Autores: | , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2025 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) |
| Repositorio: | Docta Complutense |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/124622 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/124622 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | biome specialization diet feeding strategies generalists macroecology specialists Biología Zoología Mamíferos Ecología (Biología) Evolución 24 Ciencias de la Vida 2401 Biología Animal (Zoología) 2401.06 Ecología Animal 2401.23 Vertebrados 2401.18 Mamíferos |
| Sumario: | Understanding how species’ ecological partitioning functions across biomes is fun- damental to macroecology and conservation biology. Here, we examine the global distribution of dietary strategies in terrestrial mammals, focusing on how biome spe- cialization modulates trophic diversity and structure at a broad geographical scale. Using species-level data from over 3600 terrestrial mammal species, we constructed a multivariate dietary space and quantified the area, redundancy, dispersion, uniqueness, and turnover of trophic strategies across ten major biomes. Species were classified as biome specialists, moderate generalists, or extreme generalists based on their biome breadth. By analysing biome specialists and generalists separately, we show that biome specialists tend to exhibit more constrained and compositionally distinct dietary niches in less productive biomes, while generalists, particularly moderate generalists, dominate functional space occupancy in all biomes, even the harsher ones such as tundra and taiga. This highlights how environmental constraints and ecological roles shape trophic strategies at a global scale. Notably, extreme generalists tended to exhibit more carnivorous or insectivorous diets, suggesting a strategy based on mobile preda- tion or opportunism rather than a highly diversified omnivory. Despite these general patterns, highly productive biomes supported the greatest diversity of dietary strate- gies, with higher functional redundancy and niche packing. Nestedness and turnover analyses revealed that biome specialists diets are often subsets of generalists diets, but with significant compositional shifts across biomes. These findings underscore the dual role of biome generalists as both functional stabilizers and potential limiters of eco- logical diversity, and highlight the vulnerability of specialist species to global change. Our study offers a mechanistic framework for understanding how dietary strategies interact with environmental filtering, and for identifying functional risks in changing ecosystems. |
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