Generalist, selective or ‘mixed’ foragers? Feeding strategies of two tropical toads across suburban habitats

Suitable habitats for anurans can be found in the ever-growing tropical urban environments but anurans' adaptations to urban conditions, including their trophic ecology remain largely unknown. We studied the food habits of two generalist, widespread West African Sclerophrys adult toads: African comm...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Petrozzi, F., Akani, G.C., Eniang, E.A., Ajong, S.N., Funk, S.M., Fa, J.E., Amadi, N., Dendi, D., Luiselli, L.
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Wiley 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/115226
_version_ 1855541637889916928
author Petrozzi, F.
Akani, G.C.
Eniang, E.A.
Ajong, S.N.
Funk, S.M.
Fa, J.E.
Amadi, N.
Dendi, D.
Luiselli, L.
author_browse Ajong, S.N.
Akani, G.C.
Amadi, N.
Dendi, D.
Eniang, E.A.
Fa, J.E.
Funk, S.M.
Luiselli, L.
Petrozzi, F.
author_facet Petrozzi, F.
Akani, G.C.
Eniang, E.A.
Ajong, S.N.
Funk, S.M.
Fa, J.E.
Amadi, N.
Dendi, D.
Luiselli, L.
author_sort Petrozzi, F.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Suitable habitats for anurans can be found in the ever-growing tropical urban environments but anurans' adaptations to urban conditions, including their trophic ecology remain largely unknown. We studied the food habits of two generalist, widespread West African Sclerophrys adult toads: African common (Sclerophrys regularis) and Hallowell's toad (Sclerophrys maculata). The first was studied in Lomé (Togo), Cotonou (Benin) and Ikeja (Nigeria), and the second in Port Harcourt and Ikeja (both Nigeria); the latter city represents the only studied sympatric occurrence. Mean dietary overlap between population pairs was relatively high, and diet composition of the two species when sympatric did not differ significantly. Food niche width was significantly positively correlated with local rainfall in both species, and diet composition changed significantly between the dry and wet seasons. Diversity metrics revealed that females had a more diversified diet, with higher evenness and lower dominance index values than males. The diet of both species was not correlated to prey type availability, in both the wet and dry season. Both toad species targeted specific food items rather than opportunistically consume prey as observed in most anurans which may be a response to high anuran diversity typically found in the tropics or an adjustment to urban habitats.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace115226
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2021
publishDateRange 2021
publishDateSort 2021
publisher Wiley
publisherStr Wiley
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace1152262024-08-27T10:37:20Z Generalist, selective or ‘mixed’ foragers? Feeding strategies of two tropical toads across suburban habitats Petrozzi, F. Akani, G.C. Eniang, E.A. Ajong, S.N. Funk, S.M. Fa, J.E. Amadi, N. Dendi, D. Luiselli, L. habitat preferences food consumption Suitable habitats for anurans can be found in the ever-growing tropical urban environments but anurans' adaptations to urban conditions, including their trophic ecology remain largely unknown. We studied the food habits of two generalist, widespread West African Sclerophrys adult toads: African common (Sclerophrys regularis) and Hallowell's toad (Sclerophrys maculata). The first was studied in Lomé (Togo), Cotonou (Benin) and Ikeja (Nigeria), and the second in Port Harcourt and Ikeja (both Nigeria); the latter city represents the only studied sympatric occurrence. Mean dietary overlap between population pairs was relatively high, and diet composition of the two species when sympatric did not differ significantly. Food niche width was significantly positively correlated with local rainfall in both species, and diet composition changed significantly between the dry and wet seasons. Diversity metrics revealed that females had a more diversified diet, with higher evenness and lower dominance index values than males. The diet of both species was not correlated to prey type availability, in both the wet and dry season. Both toad species targeted specific food items rather than opportunistically consume prey as observed in most anurans which may be a response to high anuran diversity typically found in the tropics or an adjustment to urban habitats. 2021-12 2021-09-29T06:22:35Z 2021-09-29T06:22:35Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/115226 en Limited Access Wiley Petrozzi, F., Akani, G.C., Eniang, E.A., Ajong, S.N., Funk, S.M., Fa, J.E., Amadi, N., Dendi, D. and Luiselli, L., 2021. Generalist, selective or ‘mixed’ foragers? Feeding strategies of two tropical toads across suburban habitats. Journal of Zoology. https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.12925
spellingShingle habitat preferences
food consumption
Petrozzi, F.
Akani, G.C.
Eniang, E.A.
Ajong, S.N.
Funk, S.M.
Fa, J.E.
Amadi, N.
Dendi, D.
Luiselli, L.
Generalist, selective or ‘mixed’ foragers? Feeding strategies of two tropical toads across suburban habitats
title Generalist, selective or ‘mixed’ foragers? Feeding strategies of two tropical toads across suburban habitats
title_full Generalist, selective or ‘mixed’ foragers? Feeding strategies of two tropical toads across suburban habitats
title_fullStr Generalist, selective or ‘mixed’ foragers? Feeding strategies of two tropical toads across suburban habitats
title_full_unstemmed Generalist, selective or ‘mixed’ foragers? Feeding strategies of two tropical toads across suburban habitats
title_short Generalist, selective or ‘mixed’ foragers? Feeding strategies of two tropical toads across suburban habitats
title_sort generalist selective or mixed foragers feeding strategies of two tropical toads across suburban habitats
topic habitat preferences
food consumption
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/115226
work_keys_str_mv AT petrozzif generalistselectiveormixedforagersfeedingstrategiesoftwotropicaltoadsacrosssuburbanhabitats
AT akanigc generalistselectiveormixedforagersfeedingstrategiesoftwotropicaltoadsacrosssuburbanhabitats
AT eniangea generalistselectiveormixedforagersfeedingstrategiesoftwotropicaltoadsacrosssuburbanhabitats
AT ajongsn generalistselectiveormixedforagersfeedingstrategiesoftwotropicaltoadsacrosssuburbanhabitats
AT funksm generalistselectiveormixedforagersfeedingstrategiesoftwotropicaltoadsacrosssuburbanhabitats
AT faje generalistselectiveormixedforagersfeedingstrategiesoftwotropicaltoadsacrosssuburbanhabitats
AT amadin generalistselectiveormixedforagersfeedingstrategiesoftwotropicaltoadsacrosssuburbanhabitats
AT dendid generalistselectiveormixedforagersfeedingstrategiesoftwotropicaltoadsacrosssuburbanhabitats
AT luisellil generalistselectiveormixedforagersfeedingstrategiesoftwotropicaltoadsacrosssuburbanhabitats