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Spatial Niche Segregation of Sympatric Stone Marten and Pine Marten – Avoidance of Competition or Selection of Optimal Habitat?
Coexistence of ecologically similar species relies on differences in one or more dimensions of their ecological niches, such as space, time and resources in diel and/or seasonal scales. However, niche differentiation may result from other mechanisms such as avoidance of high predation pressure, diff...
Autores principales: | , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Public Library of Science
2015
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4596623/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26444280 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0139852 |
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author | Wereszczuk, Anna Zalewski, Andrzej |
author_facet | Wereszczuk, Anna Zalewski, Andrzej |
author_sort | Wereszczuk, Anna |
collection | PubMed |
description | Coexistence of ecologically similar species relies on differences in one or more dimensions of their ecological niches, such as space, time and resources in diel and/or seasonal scales. However, niche differentiation may result from other mechanisms such as avoidance of high predation pressure, different adaptations or requirements of ecologically similar species. Stone marten (Martes foina) and pine marten (Martes martes) occur sympatrically over a large area in Central Europe and utilize similar habitats and food, therefore it is expected that their coexistence requires differentiation in at least one of their niche dimensions or the mechanisms through which these dimensions are used. To test this hypothesis, we used differences in the species activity patterns and habitat selection, estimated with a resource selection function (RSF), to predict the relative probability of occurrence of the two species within a large forest complex in the northern geographic range of the stone marten. Stone martens were significantly heavier, have a longer body and a better body condition than pine martens. We found weak evidence for temporal niche segregation between the species. Stone and pine martens were both primarily nocturnal, but pine martens were active more frequently during the day and significantly reduced the duration of activity during autumn-winter. Stone and pine martens utilized different habitats and almost completely separated their habitat niches. Stone marten strongly preferred developed areas and avoided meadows and coniferous or deciduous forests. Pine marten preferred deciduous forest and small patches covered by trees, and avoided developed areas and meadows. We conclude that complete habitat segregation of the two marten species facilitates sympatric coexistence in this area. However, spatial niche segregation between these species was more likely due to differences in adaptation to cold climate, avoidance of high predator pressure and/or food preferences by both species than competitive interaction between them. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-4596623 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2015 |
publisher | Public Library of Science |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-45966232015-10-20 Spatial Niche Segregation of Sympatric Stone Marten and Pine Marten – Avoidance of Competition or Selection of Optimal Habitat? Wereszczuk, Anna Zalewski, Andrzej PLoS One Research Article Coexistence of ecologically similar species relies on differences in one or more dimensions of their ecological niches, such as space, time and resources in diel and/or seasonal scales. However, niche differentiation may result from other mechanisms such as avoidance of high predation pressure, different adaptations or requirements of ecologically similar species. Stone marten (Martes foina) and pine marten (Martes martes) occur sympatrically over a large area in Central Europe and utilize similar habitats and food, therefore it is expected that their coexistence requires differentiation in at least one of their niche dimensions or the mechanisms through which these dimensions are used. To test this hypothesis, we used differences in the species activity patterns and habitat selection, estimated with a resource selection function (RSF), to predict the relative probability of occurrence of the two species within a large forest complex in the northern geographic range of the stone marten. Stone martens were significantly heavier, have a longer body and a better body condition than pine martens. We found weak evidence for temporal niche segregation between the species. Stone and pine martens were both primarily nocturnal, but pine martens were active more frequently during the day and significantly reduced the duration of activity during autumn-winter. Stone and pine martens utilized different habitats and almost completely separated their habitat niches. Stone marten strongly preferred developed areas and avoided meadows and coniferous or deciduous forests. Pine marten preferred deciduous forest and small patches covered by trees, and avoided developed areas and meadows. We conclude that complete habitat segregation of the two marten species facilitates sympatric coexistence in this area. However, spatial niche segregation between these species was more likely due to differences in adaptation to cold climate, avoidance of high predator pressure and/or food preferences by both species than competitive interaction between them. Public Library of Science 2015-10-07 /pmc/articles/PMC4596623/ /pubmed/26444280 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0139852 Text en © 2015 Wereszczuk, Zalewski http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited. |
spellingShingle | Research Article Wereszczuk, Anna Zalewski, Andrzej Spatial Niche Segregation of Sympatric Stone Marten and Pine Marten – Avoidance of Competition or Selection of Optimal Habitat? |
title | Spatial Niche Segregation of Sympatric Stone Marten and Pine Marten – Avoidance of Competition or Selection of Optimal Habitat? |
title_full | Spatial Niche Segregation of Sympatric Stone Marten and Pine Marten – Avoidance of Competition or Selection of Optimal Habitat? |
title_fullStr | Spatial Niche Segregation of Sympatric Stone Marten and Pine Marten – Avoidance of Competition or Selection of Optimal Habitat? |
title_full_unstemmed | Spatial Niche Segregation of Sympatric Stone Marten and Pine Marten – Avoidance of Competition or Selection of Optimal Habitat? |
title_short | Spatial Niche Segregation of Sympatric Stone Marten and Pine Marten – Avoidance of Competition or Selection of Optimal Habitat? |
title_sort | spatial niche segregation of sympatric stone marten and pine marten – avoidance of competition or selection of optimal habitat? |
topic | Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4596623/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26444280 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0139852 |
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