Environmental stability increases relative individual specialisation across populations of an aquatic top predator

The concept of the niche has long been a central pillar in ecological theory, with a traditional focus on quantifying niches at the species or population level. However, the importance of individual-level niche variation is increasingly being recognised, with a strong focus on individual specialisation. While examples illustrating the contribution of the individual niche to whole population niche structure are accumulating rapidly, surprisingly little is known about the conditions that shape the differences between these two potentially divergent components. Though theory predicts that stability should influence the extent of such intra-specific specialisation, we know of no previous study that has investigated its role in individual specialisation, and the differentiation between individual- and population niches. Here, we studied the diet of individuals from multiple populations of an aquatic top-predator, Salmo trutta, inhabiting contrasting stable, groundwater fed and unstable, surf...生态位（niche）概念长期以来都是生态学理论的核心支柱之一，传统研究聚焦于物种或种群层面的生态位量化。然而，个体层面生态位变异的重要性日益得到学界认可，当前研究的核心方向多为个体特化。尽管阐明个体生态位对种群整体生态位结构贡献的相关案例正快速累积，但令人意外的是，学界对调控这两类潜在分化组分间差异的条件仍知之甚少。尽管理论预测生境稳定性会影响此类种内特化的程度，但据我们所知，此前尚无研究探讨稳定性在个体特化以及个体与种群生态位分化中所扮演的角色。本研究针对一种水生顶级捕食者——褐鳟（Salmo trutta）的多个种群展开饮食生态分析，这些种群栖息于两类对比鲜明的生境：稳定型（地下水补给）与不稳定型（surf...）。