Journal
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
Volume 9, Issue 8, Pages 4994-5002Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5105
Keywords
birds; Cabo Verde; DNA metabarcoding; endemics; reptiles; trophic networks
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Funding
- Fondation Ensemble [MP/EAM/2016/06]
- Club 300 Foundation for Bird Protection
- FCT/MEC [SFRH/BPD/84141/2012, SFRH/BPD/79913/2011, PD/BD/113462/2015, PD/BD/106055/2015]
- POPH/QREN/FSE fund
- NORTE2020/PORTUGAL fund [NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-AGRIGEN]
- European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme [668981]
- Monaco Explorations
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Trophic networks in small isolated islands are in a fragile balance, and their disturbance can easily contribute toward the extinction vortex of species. Here, we show, in a small Atlantic island (Raso) in the Cabo Verde Archipelago, using DNA metabarcoding, the extent of trophic dependence of the Endangered giant wall gecko Tarentola gigas on endemic populations of vertebrates, including one of the rarest bird species of the world, the Critically Endangered Raso lark Alauda razae. We found that the Raso lark (27%), Iago sparrow Passer iagoensis (12%), Bulwer's petrel Bulweria bulwerii (15%), and the Cabo Verde shearwater Calonectris edwardsii (10%) are the most frequent vertebrate signatures found in the feces of the giant wall gecko. This work provides the first integrative assessment of their trophic links, an important issue to be considered for the long-term conservation of these small and isolated island ecosystems.
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