Faecal Pellets of the Endangered Amami Rabbit (<scp><i>Pentalagus furnessi</i></scp>) as an Allochthonous Resource for Benthic Macroinvertebrates in a Forest Stream in Amami‐Oshima Island, Japan

ABSTRACT The endangered Amami rabbit ( Pentalagus furnessi ), endemic to two Japanese subtropical islands, has a habit of egesting faeces on streambanks in their habitats. We hypothesized that rabbit faeces transported into streams are consumed by aquatic animals. Underwater behavioural observations using time‐lapse photography showed that decapod crustaceans foraged on rabbit faeces introduced experimentally into a forest stream on Amami‐Oshima Island. From in situ samples, stable isotopic analysis showed mean contributions of rabbit faeces to diets of benthic macroinvertebrates ranged from 12% to 66%. This study suggests that rabbit faeces form an allochthonous resource unique to this insular stream ecosystem.