دورية أكاديمية
Species-level predation network uncovers high prey specificity in a Neotropical army ant community.
العنوان: | Species-level predation network uncovers high prey specificity in a Neotropical army ant community. |
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المؤلفون: | Hoenle PO; Ecological Networks, Department of Biology, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany.; Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany., Blüthgen N; Ecological Networks, Department of Biology, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany., Brückner A; Ecological Networks, Department of Biology, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany.; Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California., Kronauer DJC; Laboratory of Social Evolution and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York City, New York., Fiala B; Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany., Donoso DA; Departamento de Biología, Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Quito, Ecuador., Smith MA; Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada., Ospina Jara B; Department of Biology, University of Valle, Cali, Colombia., von Beeren C; Ecological Networks, Department of Biology, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany. |
المصدر: | Molecular ecology [Mol Ecol] 2019 May; Vol. 28 (9), pp. 2423-2440. Date of Electronic Publication: 2019 May 02. |
نوع المنشور: | Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't |
اللغة: | English |
بيانات الدورية: | Publisher: Blackwell Scientific Publications Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 9214478 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1365-294X (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 09621083 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Mol Ecol Subsets: MEDLINE |
أسماء مطبوعة: | Original Publication: Oxford, UK : Blackwell Scientific Publications, c1992- |
مواضيع طبية MeSH: | Predatory Behavior*, Ants/*physiology, Animals ; Ants/classification ; Costa Rica ; DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic ; Pupa ; Spatio-Temporal Analysis ; Sympatry ; Tropical Climate |
مستخلص: | Army ants are among the top arthropod predators and considered keystone species in tropical ecosystems. During daily mass raids with many thousand workers, army ants hunt live prey, likely exerting strong top-down control on prey species. Many tropical sites exhibit a high army ant species diversity (>20 species), suggesting that sympatric species partition the available prey niches. However, whether and to what extent this is achieved has not been intensively studied yet. We therefore conducted a large-scale diet survey of a community of surface-raiding army ants at La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica. We systematically collected 3,262 prey items from eleven army ant species (genera Eciton, Nomamyrmex and Neivamyrmex). Prey items were classified as ant prey or non-ant prey. The prey nearly exclusively consisted of other ants (98%), and most booty was ant brood (87%). Using morphological characters and DNA barcoding, we identified a total of 1,103 ant prey specimens to the species level. One hundred twenty-nine ant species were detected among the army ant prey, representing about 30% of the known local ant diversity. Using weighted bipartite network analyses, we show that prey specialization in army ants is unexpectedly high and prey niche overlap very small. Besides food niche differentiation, we uncovered a spatiotemporal niche differentiation in army ant raid activity. We discuss competition-driven multidimensional niche differentiation and predator-prey arms races as possible mechanisms underlying prey specialization in army ants. By combining systematic prey sampling with species-level prey identification and network analyses, our integrative approach can guide future research by portraying how predator-prey interactions in complex communities can be reliably studied, even in cases where morphological prey identification is infeasible. (© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.) |
فهرسة مساهمة: | Keywords: DNA barcoding; competitive release; niche differentiation; predator-prey network; prey specialization; species coexistence |
تواريخ الأحداث: | Date Created: 20190504 Date Completed: 20200217 Latest Revision: 20200217 |
رمز التحديث: | 20240628 |
DOI: | 10.1111/mec.15078 |
PMID: | 31050080 |
قاعدة البيانات: | MEDLINE |
تدمد: | 1365-294X |
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DOI: | 10.1111/mec.15078 |