Foraging history of individual elephants using DNA metabarcoding

Area of Science:

• Animal Ecology
• Behavioral Ecology
• Conservation Biology

Background:

• Animals must adapt their diets to fluctuating food availability.
• Understanding individual dietary patterns is crucial for ecological studies.
• Social structure can influence foraging behavior and diet composition.

Purpose of the Study:

• To construct individual-level dietary timeseries for elephants using DNA metabarcoding.
• To investigate how habitat use, social position, and reproductive status affect elephant diets.
• To explore the relationship between social dynamics and dietary strategies in elephants.

Main Methods:

• DNA metabarcoding of fecal samples to identify consumed plant taxa.
• Construction of individual-level dietary timeseries over different seasons.
• Analysis of dietary richness, composition, and overlap between individuals and family groups.

Main Results:

• Detected at least 367 dietary plant taxa, with significant seasonal shifts between grazing and browsing.
• Elephants exhibited cohesive diets in dry seasons, with greater individual variation during wet seasons.
• The subdominant 'Artists' family showed stronger dietary cohesion than the dominant 'Royals' family.

Conclusions:

• Elephant dietary strategies are influenced by seasonality and environmental conditions.
• Social bonds within family groups play a significant role in maintaining dietary cohesion.
• Individual feeding behaviors and 'feeding cultures' emerge from the interplay of social behavior and nutritional needs.