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Mammal Study
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Abstract
Abstract.
We assessed the dietary profile of the large Japanese wood mouse (Apodemus speciosus) inhabiting the islands of the Seto Inland Sea and adjacent areas by DNA metabarcoding analyses of feces with the chloroplast trnL (UAA) P6 loop intron region and the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene as DNA-barcoding markers. The results indicated that A. speciosus consumed a variety of food items. Fagaceae (Quercus sp.) and Rosaceae were frequently utilized plant families, and the Lepidoptera (Noctuidae) was the frequently utilized animal family. The acorn-producing Quercus species was found to be a fundamental diet, while Rosaceae might be characteristic in temperate regions. The high dependence on the Noctuidae moths as an animal dietary component implies that A. speciosus may be reducing the pest abundance in orchards. Technical pitfalls surrounding the DNA metabarcoding methods for feces of the small rodent were also discussed.
We are grateful to Kentaro Gunji, Daiki Miura, Yuki Shiraishi, and Ryoya Tasaka for their help in the field works to capture mice and collect their feces. We also thank Yuri Tsubouchi for her helps to investigate information of the reference literatures. This study was funded by the Green Science Research Center of Fukuyama University (granted to Jun J. Sato).
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