A hierarchical classification of trophic guilds for North American birds and mammals

Abstract

The identification and analysis of ecological guilds have been fundamental to understand the processes thatdetermine the structure and organization of communities. However, reviewing studies that have tried to categorizespecies into trophic guilds we found many different criteria on which such categorizations are based; consequently, asingle species may have several guild designations, limiting its accuracy and applicability. In this paper we proposea classification scheme for trophic guilds as a first step to establish a common terminology. For this purpose weconsidered 1502 species of mainland birds and mammals from North America (Mexico, USA, and Canada).