Trophic ecology of parabiotic ants: Do the partners have similar food niches?

Publikation: Beiträge in ZeitschriftenZeitschriftenaufsätzeForschungbegutachtet

Authors

  • Florian Menzel
  • Michael Staab
  • Arthur C. Chung
  • Gerhard Gebauer
  • Nico Blüthgen

Organisms associated with another species may experience both costs and benefits from their partner. One of these costs is competition, which is the more likely if the two species are ecologically similar. Parabioses are associations between two ant species that share a nest and often attend the same food sources. Albeit parabioses are probably mutualistic, parabiotic partners may compete for food. We therefore investigated feeding niches and dietary overlap of two parabiotically associated ants in Borneo using cafeteria experiments and stable isotope analyses. The two species strongly differed in their food choices. While Crematogaster modiglianii mostly foraged at carbohydrate-rich baits, Camponotus rufifemur preferred urea-rich sources. Both species also consumed animal protein. The 15N concentration in Ca.rufifemur workers was consistently lower than in Cr.modiglianii. Camponotus rufifemur but not Cr.modiglianii possesses microbial endosymbionts, which can metabolize urea and synthesize essential amino acids. Its lower 15N signature may result from a relatively higher intake of plant-based or otherwise 15N-depleted nitrogen. Isotopic signatures of the two partners in the same parabiosis showed strongly parallel variation across nests. As we did not find evidence for spatial autocorrelation, this correlation suggests an overlap of food sources between the two ant species. Based on model simulations, we estimated a diet overlap of 22-66% for nitrogen sources and 45-74% for carbon sources. The overlap may arise from either joint exploitation of the same food sources or trophallactic exchange of food. This suggests an intense trophic interaction and potential for competition between the parabiotic partners.

OriginalspracheEnglisch
ZeitschriftAustral Ecology
Jahrgang37
Ausgabenummer5
Seiten (von - bis)537-546
Anzahl der Seiten10
ISSN1442-9985
DOIs
PublikationsstatusErschienen - 08.2012
Extern publiziertJa

DOI

Zuletzt angesehen

Publikationen

  1. Entwicklung und Erprobung des Fernstudienganges "Kommunaler Umweltschutz" (FKU).
  2. Credit constraints and exports: Evidence for German manufacturing enterprises
  3. Nachhaltiges Wirtschaften im Spannungsfeld von Gender, Care und Green Economy
  4. Irreversibility, ignorance, and the intergenerational equity-efficieny trade-off
  5. Sustainabiltiy Leadership. Eine Annäherung aus wissenschaftlicher Perspektive
  6. Genetic erosion in a stenotopic heathland ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae)
  7. Species richness of vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens in dry grasslands
  8. Was nie geschrieben wurde, lesen. L’antropologia linguistica di Walter Benjamin
  9. Tree species richness modulates water supply in the local tree neighbourhood
  10. Energy awareness services - scientific background and European best practices.
  11. Interlanguage pragmatics: From use to acquisition to second language pedagogy
  12. Berufliche Bildung Sozialpädagogik - Eine Spurensuche didaktischer Prinzipien
  13. Bildungsgerechtigkeit aus anthropologischer und begabungstheoretischer Sicht
  14. Low genetic diversity of a high mountain burnet moth species in the Pyrenees
  15. Vertrag über die Europäische Union (EUV) : Artikel 27 [Mitwirkung der Kommission]
  16. Integrating the underlying structure of stochasticity into community ecology
  17. On the economics of electrical storage for variable renewable energy sources
  18. »Die dampfenden Hälse der Pferde im Turm von Babel« und »Märchen auf Bestellung«
  19. A Novel Actuator Approach for Workpiece Clamping Using a PWM Driven Solenoid
  20. PluraL - Konzept und Erfahrungen bei der Sprachlernunterstützung Geflüchteter
  21. Does plant diversity influence phosphorus cycling in experimental grasslands?
  22. Potentiale und Herausforderungen einer empirischen Subjektivierungsforschung
  23. Visiting the Colección Poyón, or Indigeneity and the Nation-State in Guatemala
  24. Book Review: Political Entrepreneurs: The Rise of Challenger Parties in Europe