PMID- 30155364
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
LR  - 20220321
IS  - 2167-8359 (Print)
IS  - 2167-8359 (Electronic)
IS  - 2167-8359 (Linking)
VI  - 6
DP  - 2018
TI  - Unveiling community patterns and trophic niches of tropical and temperate ants 
      using an integrative framework of field data, stable isotopes and fatty acids.
PG  - e5467
LID - 10.7717/peerj.5467 [doi]
LID - e5467
AB  - BACKGROUND: 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. 
      METHODS: Resource use was assessed with seven kinds of bait representing natural 
      resources available to ants. Neutral lipid fatty acid (NLFA) profiles, and delta(15)N 
      and delta(13)C isotope signatures of the species were also obtained. Community 
      patterns and comparisons were analyzed with clustering, correlations, 
      multivariate analyses and interaction networks. RESULTS: Resource use structure 
      was similar in both communities. Niche breadths (H') and network metrics (Q and 
      H(2)') indicated similar levels of generalization between communities. A few 
      species presented more specialized niches, such as Wasmannia auropunctata and 
      Lasius fuliginosus. Stable isotope signatures and NLFA profiles also indicated 
      high generalization, although the latter differed between communities, with 
      temperate species having higher amounts of fat and proportions of C18:1n9. Bait 
      use and NLFA profile similarities were correlated, as well as species' 
      specialization indices (d') for the two methods. Similarities in delta(15)N and bait 
      use, and in delta(13)C and NLFA profiles, were also correlated. 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.
FAU - Rosumek, Felix B
AU  - Rosumek FB
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-9051-777X
AD  - Ecological Networks, Technische Universitat Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany.
AD  - Department of Ecology and Zoology, Federal University of Santa Catarina, 
      Florianopolis, Brazil.
FAU - Bluthgen, Nico
AU  - Bluthgen N
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-6349-4528
AD  - Ecological Networks, Technische Universitat Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany.
FAU - Bruckner, Adrian
AU  - Bruckner A
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-9184-8562
AD  - Ecological Networks, Technische Universitat Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany.
AD  - Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of 
      Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
FAU - Menzel, Florian
AU  - Menzel F
AD  - Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes-Gutenberg Universitat 
      Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
FAU - Gebauer, Gerhard
AU  - Gebauer G
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-1577-7501
AD  - BayCEER - IBG, Universitat Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany.
FAU - Heethoff, Michael
AU  - Heethoff M
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-3453-4871
AD  - Ecological Networks, Technische Universitat Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20180822
PL  - United States
TA  - PeerJ
JT  - PeerJ
JID - 101603425
PMC - PMC6109374
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - Atlantic forest
OT  - Baits
OT  - Fatty acids
OT  - Food resources
OT  - Formicidae
OT  - Methodology
OT  - Stable isotopes
OT  - Temperate forest
OT  - Trophic ecology
OT  - Trophic niche
COIS- The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
EDAT- 2018/08/30 06:00
MHDA- 2018/08/30 06:01
PMCR- 2018/08/22
CRDT- 2018/08/30 06:00
PHST- 2018/06/11 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2018/07/27 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2018/08/30 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2018/08/30 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2018/08/30 06:01 [medline]
PHST- 2018/08/22 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 5467 [pii]
AID - 10.7717/peerj.5467 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - PeerJ. 2018 Aug 22;6:e5467. doi: 10.7717/peerj.5467. eCollection 2018.