TableS2_Bdiversity

β-diversity results for all MOTUs and subset of MOTUs

AppendixS5_Map

Mapping file for QIIME and R analyses

Data from: Who’s for dinner? High-throughput sequencing reveals bat diet differentiation in a biodiversity hotspot where prey taxonomy is largely undescribed

Effective management and conservation of biodiversity requires understanding of predator–prey relationships to ensure the continued existence of both predator and prey populations. Gathering dietary data from predatory species, such as insectivorous bats, often presents logistical challenges, further exacerbated in biodiversity hot spots because prey items are highly speciose, yet their taxonomy is largely undescribed. We used high-throughput sequencing (HTS) and bioinformatic analyses to phylogenetically group DNA sequences into molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs) to examine predator–prey dynamics of three sympatric insectivorous bat species in the biodiversity hotspot of south-western Australia. We could only assign between 4% and 20% of MOTUs to known genera or species, depending on the method used, underscoring the importance of examining dietary diversity irrespective of taxonomic knowledge in areas lacking a comprehensive genetic reference database. MOTU analysis confirmed that resource partitioning occurred, with dietary divergence positively related to the ecomorphological divergence of the three bat species. We predicted that bat species' diets would converge during times of high energetic requirements, that is, the maternity season for females and the mating season for males. There was an interactive effect of season on female, but not male, bat species' diets, although small sample sizes may have limited our findings. Contrary to our predictions, females of two ecomorphologically similar species showed dietary convergence during the mating season rather than the maternity season. HTS-based approaches can help elucidate complex predator–prey relationships in highly speciose regions, which should facilitate the conservation of biodiversity in genetically uncharacterized areas, such as biodiversity hotspots

AppendixS4_QIIME_script

Scripts used for analyses in QIIME

AppendixS3_R_script

Scripts used for analyses in R

TableS1_Bat_Species_Traits

Table listing bat species traits

AppendixS2_Aligned_sequences

Alignment of representative sequences generated for this study

TableS6_Chao1_PD_Rarefaction

Input table used for analyses within R – Chao1 and PD rarefaction

TableS4_CNV_unweighted_unifrac

Input table used for analyses within R – unweighted unifrac distance matrix