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Ecological allometries and niche use dynamics across Komodo dragon ontogeny

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Abstract

Ontogenetic allometries in ecological habits and niche use are key responses by which individuals maximize lifetime fitness. Moreover, such allometries have significant implications for how individuals influence population and community dynamics. Here, we examined how body size variation in Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis) influenced ecological allometries in their: (1) prey size preference, (2) daily movement rates, (3) home range area, and (4) subsequent niche use across ontogeny. With increased body mass, Komodo dragons increased prey size with a dramatic switch from small (≤10 kg) to large prey (≥50 kg) in lizards heavier than 20 kg. Rates of foraging movement were described by a non-linear concave down response with lizard increasing hourly movement rates up until ∼20 kg body mass before decreasing daily movement suggesting reduced foraging effort in larger lizards. In contrast, home range area exhibited a sigmoid response with increased body mass. Intrapopulation ecological niche use and overlap were also strongly structured by body size. Thus, ontogenetic allometries suggest Komodo dragon’s transition from a highly active foraging mode exploiting small prey through to a less active sit and wait feeding strategy focused on killing large ungulates. Further, our results suggest that as body size increases across ontogeny, the Komodo dragon exhibited marked ontogenetic niche shifts that enabled it to function as an entire vertebrate predator guild by exploiting prey across multiple trophic levels.

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Acknowledgments

We thank all the Komodo National Park staff and volunteers who assisted us in field work. Financial support from the Zoological Society of San Diego; the Komodo Species Survival Plan of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation, Hong Kong, the Mohamed bin Zayed species conservation fund and the Taronga Conservation Society, Australia is gratefully acknowledged. This research was conducted via a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Komodo Survival Program and the Indonesian Department of Forestry and Conservation (PHKA).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Komodo Survival Program, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia

    Deni Purwandana, Achmad Ariefiandy & M. Jeri Imansyah

  2. Komodo National Park, Labuan Bajo, Flores, Indonesia

    Aganto Seno

  3. Department Biology, University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019, Florence, Italy

    Claudio Ciofi

  4. Centre for Ecosystem Science, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW, Australia

    Mike Letnic

  5. Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Victoria, Australia

    Tim S. Jessop

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  1. Deni Purwandana
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  2. Achmad Ariefiandy
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  3. M. Jeri Imansyah
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  4. Aganto Seno
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  5. Claudio Ciofi
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  6. Mike Letnic
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  7. Tim S. Jessop
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Correspondence to Tim S. Jessop.

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Communicated by: Sven Thatje

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Purwandana, D., Ariefiandy, A., Imansyah, M.J. et al. Ecological allometries and niche use dynamics across Komodo dragon ontogeny. Sci Nat 103, 27 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-016-1351-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-016-1351-6

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