Katarina Hedlund
Professor
Food sources of early colonising arthropods: The importance of allochthonous input
Author
Summary, in English
Arthropod predators and detritivores are among the first colonisers on land surfaces undergoing primary succession. In the absence of higher plants and herbivores, they may either have an allochthonous food source (i.e. of geographically distant origin) or local food source that is sustained by e.g. microorganisms. By studying spiders and collembolans on sites along chronosequences on recently emerged nunataks (ice-free land in glacial areas), we analysed whether the food source of early colonisers was of local or distant origin. Also, we measured the potential changes in trophic position with increasing site age. With stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of both spiders and collembolans, we determined that allochthonous food sources are important on the youngest sites. The allochthonous food sources may explain how arthropods can persist in the absence of local primary productivity. Also, some spider species may increase their ability to survive by shifting their trophic position as the community composition changes. The results indicate that a wolf spider species shifted towards a lower trophic level with increasing site age. By contrast, no shifts in trophic position were observed for sheet-web spiders or collembolans.
Department/s
- Biodiversity
- Evolutionary ecology
- BECC: Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate
- Soil Ecology
- Theoretical Population Ecology and Evolution Group
Publishing year
2014
Language
English
Pages
21-26
Publication/Series
Pedobiologia
Volume
57
Issue
1
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Elsevier
Topic
- Zoology
- Ecology
Keywords
- Iceland
- Carbon and nitrogen
- Isotomidae
- Linyphiidae
- Lycosidae
- Stable isotopes
Status
Published
Research group
- Soil Ecology
- Theoretical Population Ecology and Evolution Group
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1873-1511