The effect of habitat on intra-generic competition

Abstract

Competition and habitat selection have been great topics for ecologists for decades and play a vital role in the study of ecology. In order to avoid competition, organisms partition their niches. Burying beetles (genus: Nicrophorus) occupy the small carrion niche and use carcasses as their primary resource, both in feeding and reproduction. In this study I investigated the effects of habitat on intra-generic competition on burying beetles. I found that two of the three prominent species, Nicrophorus investigator and Nicrophorus defodiens do partition the small carrion niche. N. investigator was found primarily in the meadow and N. defodiens was found in the aspen. This may be due to the different preferences of soil or amount of shade and temperature. In the case that both N. defodiens and N. investigator were present at the same carcass, N. investigator won all of the carcasses (in both aspen and meadow habitats). Also it appears that burying beetles have a higher reproductive success in the aspen habitats versus the meadow habitats. Whether this is due to the aspen habitat having factors that benefit burying beetles or due to variations in each species reproductive success (N. investigator vs. N. defodiens) is not well known and needs to be studied further. Further studies will need to be done on Nicrophorus guttula to understand its habitat selection.

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