Feeding studies on Onychiurus arcticus (Tullberg) (Collembola: Onychiuridae) on West Spitsbergen |
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| Authors: | I D Hodkinson S Coulson N R Webb W Block A T Strathdee J S Bale |
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| Institution: | (1) School of Biological and Earth Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom St., L3 3AF Liverpool, UK;(2) Furzebrook Research Station, NERC, Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, BH20 5AS Wareham, Dorset, UK;(3) British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, CB3 0ET Cambridge, UK;(4) School of Biological Sciences, University of Birmingham, B15 2TT Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK |
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| Abstract: | The feeding biology of the arctic collembolan Onychiurus arcticus (Tullberg) is described from West Spitsbergen, based on a combination of gut content analyses for field collected and microcosm-living animals, together with laboratory feeding trials. There was wide variation in the food items consumed by individual animals, reflecting the wide choice available in the environment. Most animals fed predominantly on living and dead bryophytes, detritus and to a lesser extent algal cells. Laboratory trials showed that O. arcticus feeds as a herbivore on a range of bryophyte species. The presence of dense aggregations below bird cliffs and elsewhere may reflect the distribution of particularly favourable microenvironments. |
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