DOI: 10.5061/dryad.3tx95x6hq
title: Artificial selection for predatory behavior results in dietary niche differentiation in an omnivorous mammal

description: The diet of an individual is a result of the availability of dietary items
 and the individual's foraging skills and preferences. Behavioral
 differences may thus influence diet variation, but the evolvability of
 diet choice through behavioral evolution has not been studied. We used
 experimental evolution combined with a field enclosure experiment to test
 whether behavioral selection leads to dietary divergence. We analysed the
 individual dietary niche via stable isotope ratios of nitrogen (δ15N) and
 carbon (δ13C) in the hair of an omnivorous mammal, bank vole, from 4 lines
 selected for predatory behavior and 4 unselected control lines. Predatory
 voles had higher hair δ15N values than control voles, supporting our
 hypothesis that predatory voles would consume a higher trophic level diet
 (more animal vs. plant foods). This difference was significant in the
 early but not the late summer season. The δ13C values also indicated a
 seasonal change in the consumed plant matter and a difference in food
 sources among selection lines in the early summer. These results imply
 that environmental factors interact with evolved behavioral tendencies to
 determine dietary niche heterogeneity. Behavioral selection thus has
 potential to contribute to the evolution of diet choice and ultimately the
 species' ecological niche breadth.
description: Please refer to the methods description in the paper
 (RSPB-2021-2510, Artificial selection for predatory behavior results in
 dietary niche differentiation in an omnivorous mammal) and its electronic
 supplementary material.
description: <strong>Artificial
 selection for predatory behavior results in dietary niche differentiation
 in an omnivorous mammal</strong> Anni Hämäläinen, Mikko Kiljunen,
 Esa Koskela, Pawel Koteja, Tapio Mappes, Milla Rajala, Katariina
 Tiainen  The file
 contains raw isotope data for bank voles (<em>Myodes
 glareolus</em>) and potential food sources from a field
 experiment. The data are provided on two sheets, one for voles and one for
 potential food sources. Sheet "raw_data_voles"
 contains stable isotope data and metadata for bank voles:
 Contents of the sheet
 "raw_data_voles" Column name Description Season Season, i.e. experiment replicate round (1: early summer, 2: late summer) Enclosure Enclosure number (1-11) Treat_density Density treatment (H: high, L: low) Dam_ID Mother's identity code  Selection Selection regime (C: runselected control, P: artificial selection for predatory behavior) Line Replicate selection line (C1-4, P1-4) Pup_ID Young vole identity code Sex Sex of young vole Date_collect Date of hair sample collection Head Head width of young vole Bodymass Body mass (g) of young vole Samplemass Sampled mass (g) of hair for isotope analyses d13C Isotope ratio of carbon (δ13C) in hair of young vole d15N Isotope ratio of nitrogen (δ15N) in hair of young vole                       Sheet "raw_data_sources" contains stable isotope data and metadata for possible food sources consumed in the field enclosures by bank voles: Contents of the sheet "raw_data_sources" Column name Description Kingdom Grouping of food sources at kingdom level (animal, fungi, plant) Group Sub-grouping food sources  Taxon Taxonomic division  Type Grouping of food sources according to predicted trophic level Parts Parts of organism sampled Year Year of collection (2019 from Peltokangas enclosures, 2020 from Pukara enclosures) Season Time of sample collection: 1= early summer (June/July), 2= late summer (August/September) d13C δ<sup>13</sup>C isotope ratio d15N δ<sup>15</sup>N isotope ratio %C % of carbon in the sample %N % of nitrogen in the sample C/N Ratio of nitrogen to carbon in the sample (%C/%N))