Resource availability affects individual niche variation and its consequences in group-living European badgers Meles meles

Oecologia volume 178, pages31–43(2015)Cite this article

Abstract

Although intra-population variation in niches is a widespread phenomenon with important implications for ecology, evolution and management of a range of animal species, the causes and consequences of this variation remain poorly understood. We used stable isotope analysis to characterise foraging niches and to investigate the causes and consequences of individual niche variation in the European badger, a mustelid mammal that lives in territorial social groups, but forages alone. We found that the degree of individual niche variation within social groups was negatively related to the availability of farmland habitats, which represent an important foraging habitat for badgers; and was positively related to territory size, supporting the idea that resource limitation and ecological opportunity lead to increased individual specialisation. We also found that the degree of individual specialisation related to an individual’s body condition and that this effect varied with ecological context; such that specialisation had a stronger positive relationship with body condition in social groups with reduced availability of key farmland habitats. Body condition was also related to the utilisation of specific resources (woodland invertebrates), but again this relationship varied with the availability of farmland foraging habitats. This study supports the idea that resource availability plays an important role in determining patterns of individual niche variation, and identifies the potential adaptive consequences of specialised foraging strategies.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the National Wildlife Management Centre’s Woodchester Park field team for carrying out the trapping and sampling of badgers to obtain whiskers for the purposes of this study. We would also like to thank Gareth Rees for his help with the stable isotope analysis. Work involving live badgers was carried out under a UK Home Office licence, in accordance with the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, and was subject to a University ethical review process. This research was funded by the European Social Fund (ESF). The longer-term Woodchester Park study is supported by the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. SB is funded by an EU consolidator’s grant: STATEMIG 310820.

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Affiliations

  1. Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9EZ, UK

    Andrew Robertson & Stuart Bearhop

  2. National Wildlife Management Centre, Animal and Plant Health Agency, Woodchester Park, Gloucestershire, GL10 3UJ, UK

    Andrew Robertson & Richard J. Delahay

  3. Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9EZ, UK

    Andrew Robertson & Robbie A. McDonald

  4. School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 7TJ, UK

    Simon D. Kelly

  5. Food and Environment Research Agency, Sand Hutton, York, YO41 1LZ, UK

    Simon D. Kelly

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  1. Andrew Robertson
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  2. Robbie A. McDonald
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  3. Richard J. Delahay
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  4. Simon D. Kelly
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  5. Stuart Bearhop
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Correspondence to Andrew Robertson or Stuart Bearhop.

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Communicated by Christian Voigt.

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Robertson, A., McDonald, R.A., Delahay, R.J. et al. Resource availability affects individual niche variation and its consequences in group-living European badgers Meles meles . Oecologia 178, 31–43 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-014-3202-5

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Keywords

  • Individual specialisation
  • Stable isotope analysis
  • Meles meles
  • Niche variation
  • Resource competition