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The funding body played no role in design of the study, data collection, analysis interpretation of data and writing the manuscript. You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar. SS and CL designed the study. SS conducted the field sampling and the laboratory experiments; SS analysed the data. SS and CL wrote the manuscript. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Correspondence to Christian Laforsch. The investigated species are not at risk of extinction or considered as endangered species by IUCN. No permissions other than the research permit were required from the landowners in order to sample the hermit crabs. Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Gastropod species utilized by the two co-occurring hermit crab species, C. Outcome of the two-choice preference experiments. Shell partitioning of the two hermit crab species. PCA calculation based on the five investigated morphometric parameters of their utilized gastropod shells.
Each data point represents a single shell, colours resemble the two co-occurring hermit crab species black: C. Reprints and Permissions. Steibl, S. Shell resource partitioning as a mechanism of coexistence in two co-occurring terrestrial hermit crab species. BMC Ecol 20, 1 Download citation. Received : 14 January Accepted : 29 November Published : 16 January Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:.
Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative. Skip to main content. Search all BMC articles Search. Download PDF. Abstract Background Coexistence is enabled by ecological differentiation of the co-occurring species.
Results Field sampling of eleven separated hermit crab populations showed that the two co-occurring hermit crab species inhabit the same beach habitat but utilize a distinct subset of the shell resource. Conclusion The two terrestrial hermit crab species occur in the same habitat but have evolved different preferences towards distinct subsets of the limiting shell resource.
Background Throughout all ecosystems, species can be found that are closely related to each other, occupy the same trophic level within the food web and share the same habitat, thus fulfilling similar ecological roles for the ecosystem [ 1 ]. Results Field data Of the collected hermit crabs, were identified as C.
Table 1 Comparison of the shell utilization and preferences of the two co-occurring hermit crab species Full size table. Full size image. Table 2 Comparison of the shell morphology of the four most utilized gastropod shell types and the two hermit crab species Full size table. Discussion According to the competitive exclusion principle, ecological differentiation is the premise for coexistence in co-occurring species [ 7 ].
Conclusion Overall, our research investigated the mechanism of resource partitioning as a driver of coexistence and demonstrated that two co-occurring species of terrestrial hermit crabs have evolved intrinsic preferences towards distinct subsets of the shell resource, which attenuates interspecific competition over the limiting resource in natural populations.
Methods Field data Hermit crabs were collected on the beaches of eleven coral islands, distributed over the Lhaviyani Faadhippolhu Atoll, Republic of Maldives. Availability of data and materials The datasets generated during this study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. References 1. Article Google Scholar 2. Article Google Scholar 3. Article Google Scholar 4. Article Google Scholar 5.
Article Google Scholar 9. Article Google Scholar Revised : 04 June Accepted : 04 June Issue Date : September Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:. Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative.
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Rights and permissions Reprints and Permissions. This differentiation and partitioning of resources based on their physical location allows the different species to coexist more effectively with one another. Additionally, species can more effectively coexist based on food partitioning.
For example, among species of lemur monkeys, food may be discriminated by the chemical characteristics of the food. Food partitioning based on plant chemistry can play an important role. This allows different species to coexist while eating similar yet chemically different foods. Similarly, species may have an affinity for different parts of the same food. For example, one species may prefer a different part of the plant than another species, allowing them to effectively coexist.
Some species may prefer the leaves of the plant while others prefer the plant stems. Species can also partition food based on other characteristics such as different activity patterns. One species may consume most of their food during a certain time of day while another may be more active at night. By partitioning out resources, species can have long-term coexistence with one another in the same habitat. This allows both species to survive and thrive rather than one species causing the other to go extinct , as in the case of complete competition.
The combination of intraspecific and interspecific competition is important in relation to species. When different species occupy slightly different niches in relation to resources, the limiting factor for population size becomes more about intraspecific competition than interspecific competition. Similarly, humans can have profound effects on ecosystems , particularly in causing species to go extinct.
The study of resource partitioning by scientists can help us understand how the removal of a species may impact the overall allocation and usage of resources both in a particular niche and in the broader environment.
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