Unveiling community patterns and trophic niches of tropical and temperate ants using an integrative framework of field data, stable isotopes and fatty acids

PeerJ
Félix B RosumekMichael Heethoff

Abstract

The 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. Resource use was assessed with seven kinds of bait representing natural resources available to ants. Neutral lipid fatty acid (NLFA) profiles, and δ15N and δ13C isotope signatures of the species were also obtained. Community patterns and comparisons were analyzed with clustering, correlations, multivariate analyses and interaction networks. Resource use structure was similar in both...Continue Reading

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Citations

Aug 5, 2020·Experimental & Applied Acarology·Adrian Brückner, Michael Heethoff
Jun 9, 2021·Journal of the Royal Society, Interface·Cristian L KlunkMarcio R Pie
Jan 22, 2022·Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society·Anton M PotapovStefan Scheu

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
PCA

Software Mentioned

R
SIMPROF
SIMPER
PERMDISP
vegan
clustsig
PAST
AntWeb
PERMANOVA
bipartite

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