Dietary ecology of common amphibian species in a seasonal location in northern Sri Lanka

Abstract

ABSTRACT Understanding the conditions under which interacting species can persist is a major goal in ecology. Dietary partitioning is one of the major strategies that enables ecologically similar species to coexist in communities. In this study, we examined the dietary patterns of a selected group of amphibians in an amphibian community in northern Sri Lanka to understand differential resource use by coexisting species. The stomach flushing method was used to examine the diet of amphibians to study the niche breadth and pairwise species dietary niche overlap. Seventeen different prey categories were identified from the diet of six species of amphibians in the community. The most frequently used prey category by all amphibians was hymenoptera. Among the amphibians, some consumed several different prey categories (8–9 prey categories), while some were more specialised (e.g. Uperodon rohani fed only on ants), consuming only one or two different prey categories. The average niche overlap among the species in the community was 0.392 indicating low trophic niche overlap. This study indicates a low level of dietary niche overlap between the selected amphibian species and hence, a high degree of dietary niche partitioning. The findings also provide valuable insights into the dietary ecology of these amphibians, which will be invaluable for the formulation of conservation strategies.