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Community-wide stable isotope analysis reveals two distinct trophic groups in a service-providing carabid community

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 June 2017

S. Kamenova ,
C. Leroux ,
S.E. Polin  and
M. Plantegenest
S. Kamenova*
Affiliation:
Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, 79360 Villiers-en-Bois, France UMR 1349 Institut de Génétique, Environnement et Protection des Plantes, 35042 Rennes, France
C. Leroux
Affiliation:
Station Biologique de Roscoff, Place Georges Teissier 29680 Roscoff, France
S.E. Polin
Affiliation:
UMR 1349 Institut de Génétique, Environnement et Protection des Plantes, 35042 Rennes, France
M. Plantegenest
Affiliation:
UMR 1349 Institut de Génétique, Environnement et Protection des Plantes, 35042 Rennes, France
*
*Author for correspondence Phone: +33 (0)2 23 48 50 00 Fax: +33 (0)2 23 48 55 10 E-mail: stefaniya.kamenova@gmail.com
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Abstract

Disentangling trophic interactions among species is important for elucidating mechanisms underlying ecosystem functioning and services. Carabid beetles are an important guild of predators that may regulate pest populations in arable landscapes, but their generalist feeding behavior hinders predictions about their actual contribution to pest control. In order to assess carabids’ potential for pest control, we simultaneously analyzed the carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios of a community of 45 co-occurring species in wheat and oilseed rape fields. With the expectation to identify distinct trophic groups based on the mean and the variance of carabid isotopic signatures, we observed a high degree of overlap in trophic positions between species. However, we also observed that species could be successfully categorized into two groups according to whether or not their carbon signatures varied independently from variations in the crop baseline. We interpret these results as differential primary resource uptake or by differential mobility aptitude in foraging. Accordingly, we propose that the isotopic signal can inform us on the presence/absence of links between generalist predators and cultivated plants through the trophic networks they belong to, and consequently on their potential role as pest natural enemies. We therefore suggest the complementarity of stable isotope analysis for obtaining a time-integrated assessment of carabid trophic behavior that may be combined with more direct molecular diet analysis allowing the simultaneous quantification of specific trophic links within agricultural landscapes.

Keywords

δ13Cδ15Ntrophic interactionsecosystem servicesagroecosystemsbiodiversitypest controlground beetles

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Research Papers
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 108 , Issue 1 , February 2018 , pp. 130 - 139
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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