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© 2014. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Food webs are known to have myriad trophic links between resource and consumer species. While herbivores have well-understood trophic tendencies, the difficulties associated with characterizing the trophic positions of higher-order consumers have remained a major problem in food web ecology. To better understand trophic linkages in food webs, analysis of the stable nitrogen isotopic composition of amino acids has been introduced as a potential means of providing accurate trophic position estimates. In the present study, we employ this method to estimate the trophic positions of 200 free-roaming organisms, representing 39 species in coastal marine (a stony shore) and 38 species in terrestrial (a fruit farm) environments. Based on the trophic positions from the isotopic composition of amino acids, we are able to resolve the trophic structure of these complex food webs. Our approach reveals a high degree of trophic omnivory (i.e., noninteger trophic positions) among carnivorous species such as marine fish and terrestrial hornets.This information not only clarifies the trophic tendencies of species within their respective communities, but also suggests that trophic omnivory may be common in these webs.

Details

Title
High-resolution food webs based on nitrogen isotopic composition of amino acids
Author
Chikaraishi, Yoshito 1 ; Steffan, Shawn A 2 ; Ogawa, Nanako O 1 ; Ishikawa, Naoto F 1 ; Sasaki, Yoko 1 ; Tsuchiya, Masashi 1 ; Ohkouchi, Naohiko 1 

 Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Yokosuka, Japan 
 USDA-ARS Vegetable Crops Research Unit, 1630 Linden Dr., Department of Entomology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA 
Pages
2423-2449
Section
Original Research
Publication year
2014
Publication date
Jun 2014
Publisher
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
e-ISSN
20457758
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2299129778
Copyright
© 2014. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.