Grassland harvesting alters ant community trophic structure: An isotopic study in tallgrass prairies

Kim, Tania; Bartel, Savannah; Gratton, Claudio

doi:10.1002/ece3.5523

Grassland harvesting alters ant community trophic structure: An isotopic study in tallgrass prairies

Journal Article · Tue Aug 06 00:00:00 EDT 2019 · Ecology and Evolution

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5523· OSTI ID:1609254

^[1]; Bartel, Savannah ^[2]; Gratton, Claudio ^[2]

Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States); DOE/OSTI
Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)

Disturbances have long been recognized as important forces for structuring natural communities but their effects on trophic structure are not well understood, particularly in terrestrial systems. This is in part because quantifying trophic linkages is a challenge, especially for small organisms with cryptic feeding behaviors such as insects, and often relies on conducting labor-intensive feeding trials or extensive observations in the field. In this study, we used stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen to examine how disturbance (annual biomass harvesting) in tallgrass prairies affected the trophic position, trophic range, and niche space of ants, a widespread grassland consumer. We hypothesized that biomass harvest would remove important food and nesting resources of insects thus affecting ant feeding relationships and trophic structure. We found shifts in the feeding relationships inferred by isotopic signatures with harvest. In particular, these shifts suggest that ants within harvest sites utilized resources at lower trophic levels (possibly plant-based resources or herbivores), expanded trophic breadth, and occupied different niche spaces. Shifts in resource use following harvest could be due to harvest-mediated changes in both the plant and arthropod communities that might affect the strength of competition or alter plant nitrogen availability. Because shifts in resource use alter the flow of nutrients across the food web, disturbance effects on ants could have ecosystem-level consequences through nutrient cycling.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, OH (United States); Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-76RL01830; FC02-07ER64494

OSTI ID:: 1609254

Journal Information:: Ecology and Evolution, Journal Name: Ecology and Evolution Journal Issue: 17 Vol. 9; ISSN 2045-7758

Publisher:: WileyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Data from: Grassland harvesting alters ant community trophic structure: an isotopic study in tallgrass prairies Kim, Tania; Bartel, Savannah; Gratton, Claudio Dryad https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.gc90861	dataset	January 2019

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