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Changes of consumers’ trophic niches, the n-dimensional biotic space that allows a species to satisfy its minimum requirements for population growth, are driven in part by shifts in the degree of individual resource use specialization within a population. Individual specialization results from complex trade-offs in inter- and intraspecific competition as organisms reduce niche overlap within a population or with heterospecifics. It is vital to build empirical knowledge on the trophic niche dynamics of consumers, given the role that niche dynamics play in food web stability, species coexistence, and population resilience, especially quantifying the trophic niche’s expansion and contraction of coastal fish populations experiencing increasing frequency of environmental disturbance and habitat transformation. In coastal ecosystems, disturbances alter the connectivity, productivity, and nutrient regimes of aquatic habitats, which could lead to significant shifts in consumers’ trophic niches. We investigated the trophic niche dynamics of two fish species Centropomus undecimalis (Common Snook) and Megalops atlanticus (Atlantic Tarpon), across two adjacent coastal lake systems of varying nutrient regimes (eutrophic vs. mesotrophic) and hydrological connectivity. In both systems, Snook had larger trophic niches than Tarpon. Also, the trophic niche size in the eutrophic system was larger than the mesotrophic system for both species. Snook and Tarpon used different prey resources, resulting in low niche overlap between species in both systems. Our results highlight how altered hydrological connectivity, and nutrient regimes can shift trophic niche dynamics of higher trophic-level consumers, likely due to changes in prey landscapes and shifts in the foraging ecology of species.
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This content will become publicly available on December 1, 2026
Cause and consequences of Common Snook (Centropomus undecimalis) space use specialization in a subtropical riverscape
Variability in space use among conspecifics can emerge from foraging strategies that track available resources, especially in riverscapes that promote high synchrony between prey pulses and consumers. Projected changes in riverscape hydrological regimes due to water management and climate change accentuate the need to understand the natural variability in animal space use and its implications for population dynamics and ecosystem function. Here, we used long-term tracking of Common Snook (Centropomus undecimalis) movement and trophic dynamics in the Shark River, Everglades National Park from 2012 to 2023 to test how specialization in the space use of individuals (i.e., Eadj) changes seasonally, how it is influenced by yearly hydrological conditions, and its relationship to the between individual trophic niche. Snook exhibited seasonal variability in space use, with maximum individual specialization (high dissimilarity) in the wet season. The degree of individual specialization increased over the years in association with greater marsh flooding duration, which produced important subsidies. Also, there were threshold responses of individual space use specialization as a function of floodplain conditions. Greater specialization in space use results in a decrease in snook trophic niche size. These results show how hydrological regimes in riverscapes influence individual specialization of resource use (both space and prey), providing insight into how forecasted hydroclimatic scenarios may shape habitat selection processes and the trophic dynamics of mobile consumers.
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- PAR ID:
- 10643723
- Publisher / Repository:
- Springer Nature
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Scientific Reports
- Volume:
- 15
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 2045-2322
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- Acoustic telemetry Trophic niche Movement ecology Habitat use similarity Everglades
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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