Metabarcoding of feces and intestinal contents to determine carnivorous diets in red-crowned cranes in eastern Hokkaido,Japan |
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| Authors: | Haruka KATAOKA Nanami KOITA Natsuko ITO KONDO Hiroshi C ITO Momoko NAKAJIMA Kunikazu MOMOSE Hiroko IIMA Tomoo YOSHINO Tomoko AMANO Takio KITAZAWA Daiji ENDOH Nobuyoshi NAKAJIMA Hiroki TERAOKA |
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| Institution: | 1)School of Veterinary Medicine, Rakuno Gakuen University, Hokkaido, Japan;2)Biodiversity Division, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Ibaraki, Japan;3)NPO Red-crowned Crane Conservancy, Hokkaido, Japan;4)Kushiro Zoo, Hokkaido, Japan;5)College of Agriculture, Food and Environment Sciences, Rakuno Gakuen University, Hokkaido, Japan |
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| Abstract: | The red-crowned crane Grus japonensis in Hokkaido, Japan forms a closed population as a residence that is independent of the mainland population. Based on observations of a limited number of individuals as well as cranes in captivity, red-crowned cranes are omnivores and eat fish, worms, insects and plants in their own territories except in winter, when they are fed with dent corn that is supplied in eastern Hokkaido. DNA metabarcoding based on high throughput sequencing was carried out using universal primer sets for cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene. Feces from 27 chicks collected in June and July in the period from 2016 to 2018 and intestinal contents from 33 adult and subadult cranes that were found dead almost throughout year in 2006–2013 in the field in eastern Hokkaido were used. Although compositions varied considerably in the cranes, both insects and fish were found in adults and subadults to the same extents, while insects were predominant in chicks. Both insects and fish were detected in all seasons for adults and subadults. Horse flies, scarab beetles and weevils accounted for the most of the insects regardless of the life stage. Dace, stickleback, flatfish and sculpin were the major fish species in adults, while chicks ate almost only stickleback. The results provide the first comprehensive data on carnivorous diets in wild red-crowned cranes in eastern Hokkaido as basis for conservation of red-crowned cranes, for which the life style and area continue to change. |
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| Keywords: | cytochrome c oxidase subunit I Grus japonensis high throughput sequencing Japan scatology |
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