Understanding carnivores’ diet is key to understanding their adaptability in a rapidly changing world. However, studying diet of large carnivores is difficult due to their elusive nature. In this study, we performed DNA metabarcoding analyses of 82 putative leopard scats collected from two distinct, but connected, habitat types (rainforest and grassland) in the Udzungwa Mountains, Tanzania. Two mitochondrial markers were used to identify predator and prey. Metabarcoding confirmed that 60 of the collected scats (73%) originated from leopards, and nineteen mammalian prey DNA sequences were identified to species. Using prey size correction factors for leopards, and covariates on habitat type and prey ecology, we investigated whether differences in leopard dietary composition were detectable between habitats. We found that leopards in grassland consumed a larger mean prey size compared with leopards in rainforest. Small prey (<19 kg) constituted >70% of the biomass consumed by leopards in rainforest, while large prey (≥80 kg) were only eaten in grassland. Arboreal species constituted 50% of the biomass consumed by rainforest leopards. Our results highlight the importance of arboreal species in their diet. From a management perspective, we suggest continued protection of all prey species in the protected areas to prevent human–wildlife conflicts.

中文翻译：

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DNA元条形码揭示了非洲豹的饮食在生境之间会有所不同

了解食肉动物的饮食是了解他们在瞬息万变的世界中的适应能力的关键。但是，由于大型食肉动物的饮食难以捉摸，因此很难对其进行饮食研究。在这项研究中，我们对来自坦桑尼亚乌德宗瓦山脉的两种截然不同但相互联系的栖息地类型（雨林和草地）收集的82种假定的豹子粪便进行了DNA元条形码分析。使用两种线粒体标记物来识别捕食者和猎物。Metabarcoding证实收集的粪便中有60只（73％）来自豹子，并且已识别出19种哺乳动物猎物DNA序列。使用豹子的猎物大小校正因子，以及栖息地类型和猎物生态的协变量，我们调查了在栖息地之间是否可以检测到豹子饮食组成的差异。我们发现，与雨林中的豹子相比，草原中的豹子消耗的平均猎物大小更大。在热带雨林中，小猎物（<19公斤）构成豹子消耗的生物量的70％以上，而大猎物（≥80公斤）仅在草原上食用。树栖物种占雨林豹消耗的生物量的50％。我们的结果突出了树栖物种在饮食中的重要性。从管理的角度来看，我们建议继续保护保护区内的所有猎物物种，以防止人类与野生动物之间的冲突。我们的结果突出了树栖物种在饮食中的重要性。从管理的角度来看，我们建议继续保护保护区内的所有猎物物种，以防止人类与野生动物之间的冲突。我们的结果突出了树栖物种在饮食中的重要性。从管理的角度来看，我们建议继续保护保护区内的所有猎物物种，以防止人类与野生动物之间的冲突。