[en] 2. Nitrogen stable isotopes (hereafter delta 15N) were used to place termites from French Guiana rainforests along a wood-soil decomposition gradient, to test (i) whether feeding group assignation based on morphological characters was accurate and actually represented diet specialisation thresholds, and (ii) to what extent the dietary specialization of species is explained by phylogeny (phylogenetic autocorrelation). 3. delta 15N values vary over a range of 13 parts per thousand, suggesting that diet diversification contributes to the high species diversity in French Guiana. delta 15N values span a similar interval in all Termitidae subfamilies. Ranges of different subfamilies broadly overlap, although each of them diversified preferentially on one side of the wood-soil decomposition gradient. Congeneric species share similar feeding habits, whereas distant species tend to feed on distinct substrates. 4. Feeding groups did not completely match stable isotope data: there was no discontinuity between Groups III and IV, and no correlation between anatomical criteria used to distinguish these groups and delta 15N values. Nor was there any consistent difference in delta 15N values between wood feeders of the families Rhinotermitidae (Group I) and Termitidae (Group II). We also suggest that species feeding outside the wood-soil gradient should be distinguished for their peculiar feeding requirements.
Research Center/Unit :
MARE - Centre Interfacultaire de Recherches en Océanologie - ULiège
Disciplines :
Environmental sciences & ecology Entomology & pest control
Author, co-author :
Bourguignon, Thomas; Université Libre de Bruxelles - ULB > Dept. Organism Biology > Lab. Evolutionary Biology and Ecology
Sobotnik, Jan; Academy of Science of the Czech Republic > Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry > Research Team of Infochemicals
Lepoint, Gilles ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Sciences et Gestion de L'environnement > Océanologie
Martin, Jean-Michel; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - CNRS > UMR EcoFog (Guyane)
Hardy, Olivier J; Université Libre de Bruxelles - ULB > Dept. Organism Biology > Lab. Evolutionary Biology and Ecology
Dejean, Alain; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - CNRS > UMR EcoFog (Guyane)
Roisin, Yves; Université Libre de Bruxelles - ULB > Dept. Organism Biology > Lab. Evolutionary Biology and Ecology
Language :
English
Title :
Feeding ecology and phylogenetic structure of a complex neotropical termite assemblage, revealed by nitrogen stable isotope ratios
Publication date :
2011
Journal title :
Ecological Entomology
ISSN :
0307-6946
Publisher :
Wiley-Blackwell, Malden, United States - Massachusetts
Volume :
36
Issue :
2
Pages :
261-269
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Funders :
CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique F.R.S.-FNRS - Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique CAS - Czech Academy of Sciences
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