4.7 Article

The problem of omnivory: A synthesis on omnivory and DNA metabarcoding

期刊

MOLECULAR ECOLOGY
卷 30, 期 10, 页码 2199-2206

出版社

WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/mec.15903

关键词

diet analysis; generalist; high‐ throughput sequencing; multiple markers; secondary predation; trophic interactions

资金

  1. Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust [MR/S502455/1]
  2. Natural Environment Research Council [NE/L002434/1]
  3. Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council [BB/M009122/1]

向作者/读者索取更多资源

Dietary analysis using DNA metabarcoding is a powerful tool for understanding trophic interactions, but caution is needed when interpreting sequencing data, especially when studying omnivorous diets to avoid misleading results.
Dietary analysis using DNA metabarcoding is a powerful tool that is increasingly being used to further our knowledge of trophic interactions in highly complex food webs but is not without limitations. Omnivores, the most generalist of consumers, pose unique challenges when using such methods. Here, we provide the rationale to understand the problems associated with analysing the complex diets of omnivores. By reviewing existing metabarcoding studies of omnivorous diet, and constructing hypothetical scenarios arising from each, we outline that great caution is required when interpreting sequencing data in such cases. In essence, the problems of accidental consumption and secondary ingestion are significant sources of error when investigating omnivorous diets. The integration of multiple high throughput sequencing markers increases the taxonomic breadth of taxa detected but we reveal how some detections may be misleading. Disentangling which taxa have been deliberately or accidentally consumed by the focal omnivore is challenging and can falsely emphasise those that were not intentionally consumed, obscuring biologically meaningful interactions. Although we suggest ways to disentangle these issues, we urge that the results of such analyses should be interpreted with caution and all possible scenarios for the presence of biota within omnivores given due consideration.

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