2025/03/07 by Mira, André Ferreira, Medina, Nagore García, Fornasari, João Vieira +5
#Niche partitioning #Spatial heterogeneity #Species coexistence #Thermal niche #Trophic ecology
paper · doi:10.20350/digitalcsic/17151
The outcome of species interactions depends on how they interact with both biotic and abiotic components of heterogeneous environments. However, the trophic (Eltonian) and abiotic (Grinnellian) niches of organisms are historically quantified in isolation by ecologists. We investigated the spatial structure of thermal and trophic niches in a tropical community of web-building spiders. By quantifying body temperature and stable isotope ratios (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N), we found that spatially clustered individuals share similar trophic niches but maintain thermal divergence. This suggests that while spiders exploit the same prey in geographic proximity, they differentiate along the thermal niche through microhabitat selection. Species identity and body size explained variation in both niche dimensions. Despite substantial overlaps in thermal niches across species, microhabitat heterogeneity allowed fine-scale spatial adjustments, potentially minimizing competition for common prey and facilitating coexistence. Our findings highlight the importance of small-scale environmental variation in shaping species interactions and provide new insights into how spatial organization influences niche partitioning in natural communities.