Food resources are patchily distributed in time and
space and differ in their quantity and quality (Begon
et al., 1996; Stiling, 1999). Understanding the diet of
an organism is, therefore, important, as this determines
its nutritional status and hence its growth and
reproductive fitness (Hughes, 1993), but also provides
information on its functional role in food webs.
Such information, in turn, provides inferences to the