ArticlePeerJ2018
Unveiling community patterns and trophic niches of tropical and temperate ants using an integrative framework of field data, stable isotopes and fatty acids.
Article in PeerJ, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Simulated biomechanical performance of morphologically disparate ant mandibles under bite loading.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Article
- Mandibular morphology, task specialization and bite mechanics inJournal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2021Article
- Fatty acid metabolism in an oribatid mite: de novo biosynthesis and the effect of starvation.Experimental & applied acarology · 2020Article
- Combining stable isotope analysis with DNA metabarcoding improves inferences of trophic ecology.PloS one · 2019Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe use and partitioning of trophic resources is a central aspect of community function. On the ground of tropical forests, dozens of ant species may be found together and ecological mechanisms should act to allow such coexistence. One hypothesis states that niche specialization is higher in the tropics, compared to temperate regions. However, trophic niches of most species are virtually unknown. Several techniques might be combined to study trophic niche, such as field observations, fatty acid analysis (FAA) and stable isotope analysis (SIA). In this work, we combine these three techniques to unveil partitioning of trophic resources in a tropical and a temperate community. We describe patterns of resource use, compare them between communities, and test correlation and complementarity of methods to unveil both community patterns and species' niches.
methodsResource use was assessed with seven kinds of bait representing natural resources available to ants. Neutral lipid fatty acid (NLFA) profiles, and δ
resultsResource use structure was similar in both communities. Niche breadths ( DISCUSSION: Our results agree with the recent view that specialization levels do not change with latitude or species richness. Partition of trophic resources alone does not explain species coexistence in these communities, and might act together with behavioral and environmental mechanisms. Temperate species presented NLFA patterns distinct from tropical ones, which may be related to environmental factors. All methods corresponded in their characterization of species' niches to some extent, and were robust enough to detect differences even in highly generalized communities. However, their combination provides a more comprehensive picture of resource use, and it is particularly important to understand individual niches of species. FAA was applied here for the first time in ant ecology, and proved to be a valuable tool due to its combination of specificity and temporal representativeness. We propose that a framework combining field observations with chemical analysis is valuable to understand resource use in ant communities.
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