Variation in the diet of Western Barn Owls (Tyto alba) along an urban-rural gradient
We studied geographic variation in the diet of Western Barn Owls (Tyto alba) along a urban-rural gradient in central-eastern Argentina and identified 5,231 prey items. Mammals were present in all samples, whereas birds and amphibians were present in 79.1 and 50.0% of the samples, respectively. There...
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| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_15594491_v124_n3_p589_Teta |
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todo:paper_15594491_v124_n3_p589_Teta2023-10-03T16:26:18Z Variation in the diet of Western Barn Owls (Tyto alba) along an urban-rural gradient Teta, P. Hercolini, C. Cueto, G. bee butterfly diet geographical variation invasive species lizard native species niche breadth periurban area predator prey capture raptor rodent rural area specialization urban area urbanization Argentina Amphibia Aves Mammalia Muridae Papilionoidea Rodentia Squamata Strigiformes Tyto alba Tytonidae Vertebrata We studied geographic variation in the diet of Western Barn Owls (Tyto alba) along a urban-rural gradient in central-eastern Argentina and identified 5,231 prey items. Mammals were present in all samples, whereas birds and amphibians were present in 79.1 and 50.0% of the samples, respectively. There were significant differences in vertebrate assemblages consumed by Barn Owls at the opposite extremes of the gradient. Native sigmodontine rodents comprised 85.8 of the total prey items, especially towards periurban and rural areas. Exotic murid rodents were the main prey item in urban sites, while birds increased in frequency in urban and periurban areas. Food niche breadth and standardized food niche breadth values were higher at intermediate levels of urbanization (= periurban). This 'periurban peak' in species diversity is a relatively well-known pattern, previously reported for taxa such as birds, lizards, bumblebees, and butterflies among others. The trophic habits of Barn Owls along this gradient were mostly similar to those reported in other studies in southern South America, where the main prey items were native rodents and food niche breadth values (measured at the level of Orders) were low. Western Barn Owls in our study maintained specialization as a micromammal predator. © 2012 by the Wilson Ornithological Society. Fil:Cueto, G. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. JOUR info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ar http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_15594491_v124_n3_p589_Teta |
| institution |
Universidad de Buenos Aires |
| institution_str |
I-28 |
| repository_str |
R-134 |
| collection |
Biblioteca Digital - Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (UBA) |
| topic |
bee butterfly diet geographical variation invasive species lizard native species niche breadth periurban area predator prey capture raptor rodent rural area specialization urban area urbanization Argentina Amphibia Aves Mammalia Muridae Papilionoidea Rodentia Squamata Strigiformes Tyto alba Tytonidae Vertebrata |
| spellingShingle |
bee butterfly diet geographical variation invasive species lizard native species niche breadth periurban area predator prey capture raptor rodent rural area specialization urban area urbanization Argentina Amphibia Aves Mammalia Muridae Papilionoidea Rodentia Squamata Strigiformes Tyto alba Tytonidae Vertebrata Teta, P. Hercolini, C. Cueto, G. Variation in the diet of Western Barn Owls (Tyto alba) along an urban-rural gradient |
| topic_facet |
bee butterfly diet geographical variation invasive species lizard native species niche breadth periurban area predator prey capture raptor rodent rural area specialization urban area urbanization Argentina Amphibia Aves Mammalia Muridae Papilionoidea Rodentia Squamata Strigiformes Tyto alba Tytonidae Vertebrata |
| description |
We studied geographic variation in the diet of Western Barn Owls (Tyto alba) along a urban-rural gradient in central-eastern Argentina and identified 5,231 prey items. Mammals were present in all samples, whereas birds and amphibians were present in 79.1 and 50.0% of the samples, respectively. There were significant differences in vertebrate assemblages consumed by Barn Owls at the opposite extremes of the gradient. Native sigmodontine rodents comprised 85.8 of the total prey items, especially towards periurban and rural areas. Exotic murid rodents were the main prey item in urban sites, while birds increased in frequency in urban and periurban areas. Food niche breadth and standardized food niche breadth values were higher at intermediate levels of urbanization (= periurban). This 'periurban peak' in species diversity is a relatively well-known pattern, previously reported for taxa such as birds, lizards, bumblebees, and butterflies among others. The trophic habits of Barn Owls along this gradient were mostly similar to those reported in other studies in southern South America, where the main prey items were native rodents and food niche breadth values (measured at the level of Orders) were low. Western Barn Owls in our study maintained specialization as a micromammal predator. © 2012 by the Wilson Ornithological Society. |
| format |
JOUR |
| author |
Teta, P. Hercolini, C. Cueto, G. |
| author_facet |
Teta, P. Hercolini, C. Cueto, G. |
| author_sort |
Teta, P. |
| title |
Variation in the diet of Western Barn Owls (Tyto alba) along an urban-rural gradient |
| title_short |
Variation in the diet of Western Barn Owls (Tyto alba) along an urban-rural gradient |
| title_full |
Variation in the diet of Western Barn Owls (Tyto alba) along an urban-rural gradient |
| title_fullStr |
Variation in the diet of Western Barn Owls (Tyto alba) along an urban-rural gradient |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Variation in the diet of Western Barn Owls (Tyto alba) along an urban-rural gradient |
| title_sort |
variation in the diet of western barn owls (tyto alba) along an urban-rural gradient |
| url |
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_15594491_v124_n3_p589_Teta |
| work_keys_str_mv |
AT tetap variationinthedietofwesternbarnowlstytoalbaalonganurbanruralgradient AT hercolinic variationinthedietofwesternbarnowlstytoalbaalonganurbanruralgradient AT cuetog variationinthedietofwesternbarnowlstytoalbaalonganurbanruralgradient |
| _version_ |
1807316161145077760 |