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| Author(s): |
Mathias Mistretta Pires
Total Authors: 1
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| Document type: | Master's Dissertation |
| Press: | Campinas, SP. |
| Institution: | Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Biologia |
| Defense date: | 2010-01-03 |
| Examining board members: |
Sérgio Furtado dos Reis;
Eleonore Zulnara Freire Setz;
Wesley Augusto Conde Godoy
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| Advisor: | Sérgio Furtado dos Reis; Paulo Roberto Guimarães Junior |
| Abstract | |
Niche theory as originally formulated is based upon the assumption that the individuals within a species or population are ecolgically equivalent. However endogenous and exogenous factors may contribute to the existence of variation in niche dimensions. In this context, I studied the feeding ecology of the didelphid marsupial Micoureus paraguayanus in a Cerrado (savannah-like) remnant with the objective of identifying the factors that affect its diet and the patterns of trophic niche subdivision amongthe individuals within the population. The dietary composition and trophic niche width were highly affected by seasonality with differences in resource use related o sex. In the cool?dry season, when resources are scarcer, niche was broader due to increased interindividual diet variation. This variation results in the occurrence of individuals with different degrees of diet generalization within the population sch that individuals with more constrained diets use subsets of the resource spectrum used by those individuals with broader dies. These results add M. paraguayanus to a growing list of species showing interindividual diet variation and show the emergence of structure in the trphic interactions at the individual?level, creating new avenues for future research in feeding ecology (AU) | |