Ontogeny shapes individual dietary specialization in female European brown bears (Ursus arctos)

Anne G. Hertel (), Jörg Albrecht, Nuria Selva, Agnieszka Sergiel, Keith A. Hobson, David M. Janz, Andreas Mulch, Jonas Kindberg, Jennifer E. Hansen, Shane C. Frank, Andreas Zedrosser and Thomas Mueller
Additional contact information
Anne G. Hertel: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich
Jörg Albrecht: Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F)
Nuria Selva: Polish Academy of Sciences
Agnieszka Sergiel: Polish Academy of Sciences
Keith A. Hobson: Science and Technology
David M. Janz: University of Saskatchewan
Andreas Mulch: Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F)
Jonas Kindberg: Norwegian Institute for Nature Research
Jennifer E. Hansen: University of South-Eastern Norway
Shane C. Frank: University of South-Eastern Norway
Andreas Zedrosser: University of South-Eastern Norway
Thomas Mueller: Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F)

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Individual dietary specialization, where individuals occupy a subset of a population’s wider dietary niche, is a key factor determining a species resilience against environmental change. However, the ontogeny of individual specialization, as well as associated underlying social learning, genetic, and environmental drivers, remain poorly understood. Using a multigenerational dataset of female European brown bears (Ursus arctos) followed since birth, we discerned the relative contributions of environmental similarity, genetic heritability, maternal effects, and offspring social learning from the mother to individual specialization. Individual specialization accounted for 43% of phenotypic variation and spanned half a trophic position, with individual diets ranging from omnivorous to carnivorous. The main determinants of dietary specialization were social learning during rearing (13%), environmental similarity (5%), maternal effects (11%), and permanent between-individual effects (9%), whereas the contribution of genetic heritability (3%) was negligible. The trophic position of offspring closely resembled the trophic position of their mothers during the first 3–4 years of independence, but waned with increasing time since separation. Our study shows that social learning and maternal effects were more important for individual dietary specialization than environmental composition. We propose a tighter integration of social effects into studies of range expansion and habitat selection under global change.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-54722-z

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