Feeding ecology and phylogenetic structure of a complex neotropical termite assemblage, revealed by nitrogen stable isotope ratios

0359108 - ÚOCHB 2012 RIV GB eng J - Journal Article
Bourguignon, T. - Šobotník, Jan - Lepoint, G. - Martin, J. M. - Hardy, O. J. - Dejean, A. - Roisin, Y.
Feeding ecology and phylogenetic structure of a complex neotropical termite assemblage, revealed by nitrogen stable isotope ratios.
Ecological Entomology. Roč. 36, č. 2 (2011), s. 261-269. ISSN 0307-6946. E-ISSN 1365-2311
Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z40550506
Keywords : diet diversity * feeding groups * Isoptera * phylogenetic autocorrelation
Subject RIV: CC - Organic Chemistry
Impact factor: 1.995, year: 2011

We used nitrogen stable isotopes to place termites from French Guiana rainforests along a wood-soil decomposition gradient. Feeding groups did not completely match stable isotope data: there was no discontinuity between Group III and Group 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 feeding requirements.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0196956