Measuring the trophic ecology of ants using stable isotopes |
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Authors: | C. V. Tillberg D. P. McCarthy A. G. Dolezal A. V. Suarez |
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Affiliation: | (1) School of Integrative Biology, Department of Animal Biology, University of Illinois, 515 Morrill Hall, 505 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL 61801, USA;(2) School of Integrative Biology, Departments of Entomology and Animal Biology, University of Illinois, 320 Morrill Hall, 505 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL 61801, USA |
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Abstract: | Ants are prominent components of most terrestrial arthropod food webs, yet due to their highly variable diet, the role ants play in arthropod communities can be difficult to resolve. Stable isotope analysis is a promising method for determining the dietary history of an organism, and has the potential to advance our understanding of the food web ecology of social insects. However, some unique characteristics of eusocial organisms can complicate the application of this technique to the study of their trophic ecology. Using stable isotopes of N and C, we investigated levels of intraspecific variation both within and among colonies. We also examined the effect of a common preservation technique on δ15N and δ13C values. We discuss the implications of our results on experimental design and sampling methods for studies using stable isotopes to investigate the trophic ecology of social insects. Received 4 February 2005; revised 23 June 2005; accepted 4 July 2005. |
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Keywords: | Ant ecology stable isotopes trophic level Linepithema Solenopsis Lasius Aphaenogaster |
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