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A spatial kernel density method to estimate the diet composition of fish

We present a novel spatially explicit kernel density approach to estimate the proportional contribution of a prey to a predator’s diet by mass. First, we compared the spatial estimator to a traditional cluster-based approach using a Monte Carlo simulation study. Next, we compared the diet composition of three predators from Pamlico Sound, North Carolina, to evaluate how ignoring spatial correlation affects diet estimates. The spatial estimator had lower mean squared error values compared with the traditional cluster-based estimator for all Monte Carlo simulations. Incorporating spatial correlation when estimating the predator’s diet resulted in a consistent increase in precision across multiple levels of spatial correlation. Bias was often similar between the two estimators; however, when it differed it mostly favored the spatial estimator. The two estimators produced different estimates of proportional contribution of prey to the diets of the three field-collected predator species, especially when spatial correlation was strong and prey were consumed in patchy areas. Our simulation and empirical data provide strong evidence that data on food habits should be modeled using spatial approaches and not treated as spatially independent.