Gutenberg Open Science: Dinner with the roommates : trophic niche differentiation and competition in a mutualistic ant-ant association

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://doi.org/10.25358/openscience-6013

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DC Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Sprenger, Philipp P.	-
dc.contributor.author	Müsse, Christian	-
dc.contributor.author	Hartke, Juliane	-
dc.contributor.author	Feldmeyer, Barbara	-
dc.contributor.author	Schmitt, Thomas	-
dc.contributor.author	Gebauer, Gerhard	-
dc.contributor.author	Menzel, Florian	-
dc.date.accessioned	2021-06-22T10:35:57Z	-
dc.date.available	2021-06-22T10:35:57Z	-
dc.date.issued	2021	-
dc.identifier.uri	https://openscience.ub.uni-mainz.de/handle/20.500.12030/6022	-
dc.description.abstract	1. The potential for competition is highest among species in close association. Despite net benefits for both parties, mutualisms can involve costs, including food competition. This might be true for the two neotropical ants Camponotus femoratus and Crematogaster levior, which share the same nest in a presumably mutualistic association (parabiosis). 2. While each nest involves one Crematogaster and one Camponotus partner, both taxa were recently found to comprise two cryptic species that show no partner preferences and seem ecologically similar. Since these cryptic species often occur in close sympatry, they might need to partition their niches to avoid competitive exclusion. 3. Here, we investigated first, is there interference competition between parabiotic Camponotus and Crematogaster, and do they prefer different food sources under competition? And second, is there trophic niche partitioning between the cryptic species of either genus? 4. Using cafeteria experiments, neutral lipid fatty acid and stable isotope analyses, we found evidence for interference competition, but also trophic niche partitioning between Camponotus and Crematogaster. Both preferred protein- and carbohydrate-rich baits, but at protein-rich baits Ca. femoratus displaced Cr. levior over time, suggesting a potential discovery-dominance trade-off between parabiotic partners. Only limited evidence was found for trophic differentiation between the cryptic species of each genus. 5. Although we cannot exclude differentiation in other niche dimensions, we argue that neutral dynamics might mediate the coexistence of cryptic species. This model system is highly suitable for further studies of the maintenance of species diversity and the role of mutualisms in promoting species coexistence.	en_GB
dc.language.iso	eng	de
dc.rights	CC BY-NC	*
dc.rights.uri	https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/	*
dc.subject.ddc	570 Biowissenschaften	de_DE
dc.subject.ddc	570 Life sciences	en_GB
dc.title	Dinner with the roommates : trophic niche differentiation and competition in a mutualistic ant-ant association	en_GB
dc.type	Zeitschriftenaufsatz	de
dc.identifier.doi	http://doi.org/10.25358/openscience-6013	-
jgu.type.dinitype	article	en_GB
jgu.type.version	Published version	de
jgu.type.resource	Text	de
jgu.organisation.department	FB 10 Biologie	de
jgu.organisation.number	7970	-
jgu.organisation.name	Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz	-
jgu.rights.accessrights	openAccess	-
jgu.journal.title	Ecological entomology	de
jgu.journal.volume	46	de
jgu.journal.issue	3	de
jgu.pages.start	562	de
jgu.pages.end	572	de
jgu.publisher.year	2021	-
jgu.publisher.name	Wiley-Blackwell	de
jgu.publisher.place	Oxford u.a.	de
jgu.publisher.uri	https://doi.org/10.1111/een.13002	de
jgu.publisher.issn	1365-2311	de
jgu.organisation.place	Mainz	-
jgu.subject.ddccode	570	de
jgu.publisher.doi	10.1111/een.13002
jgu.organisation.ror	https://ror.org/023b0x485
Appears in collections:	JGU-Publikationen

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