Trophic niche differentiation in soil microarthropods (Oribatida, Acari): evidence from stable isotope ratios (15N/14N)

By Katja Schneider, S. Migge, R. Norton, S. Scheu, R. Langel, A. Reineking, M. Maraun. 2004

411 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract The large number of animals that coexist in soil without any clear niche differentiation has puzzled biologists for a long time. We investigated stable isotope ratios (15N/14N) in a diverse group of soil microarthropods, oribatid mites, to evaluate trophic niche differentiation. The natural variation of the stable isotopes 15N/14N was measured in 36 species/taxa from four beech and beech-oak forests. Signatures of δ15N formed a gradient spanning over 12 δ units suggesting that (a) different species occupy different trophic niches and (b) oribatid mites span three to four trophic levels. This study for the first time documented strong trophic niche differentiation in decomposer microarthropods. The results suggest that trophic niche differentiation within taxonomic groups significantly contributes to the high diversity of soil animal taxa.

Subfields: Atmospheric Science, Ecology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/b81edcb399fa91e75bbdd53f71de4f44ac26f228

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Citations in the corpus

The Berger–Parker index as an effective tool for monitoring the biodiversity of disturbed soils: a case study on Mediterranean oribatid (Acari: Oribatida) assemblages (2007, positive): “For instance, although much progress has recently been made on the feeding ecology of oribatid mites (Schneider et al. 2004; Schneider and Maraun 2005), no general patterns have emerged.”
Mesocosm Experiments as a Tool for Ecological Climate-Change Research (2013, background): “Building on thework of Schneider et al. (2004) and Pollierer et al. (2009), Perdomo et al. (2012) characterised a complex moss–microarthropod food web.”
From peds to paradoxes: linkages between soil biota and their influences on ecological processes. (2008, background): “Recent studies in Europe have demonstrated a somewhat wider range of food items in oribatid diets that have been measured by stable isotope ratios (15N/14N) (Schneider et al., 2004).”
Belowground community responses to fire: meta-analysis reveals contrasting responses of soil microorganisms and mesofauna (2018, background): “Mycorrhizal associations play a key role in structuring grassland plant communities (Hartnett & Wilson 2002) and many soil microarthropods are fungal feeders (Hunt et al. 1987, Schneider et al. 2004).”
Soil fauna and soil functions: a jigsaw puzzle (2014, background): “However, 11 years later, Schneider et al. (2004) simplified this framework and differentiated a total number of four feeding strategies for oribatid mites: phycophages/fungivores, primary decomposers (comminuting litter), secondary decomposers (consuming litter and fungi), and…”
Stable isotopes revisited: Their use and limits for oribatid mite trophic ecology (2011, background): “The analysis of the stable isotope ratios of nitrogen (15N/14N) and carbon (13C/12C) has contributed significantly to our understanding of the trophic structure of soil animal taxa and this started with the detailed analysis of oribatid mites (Schneider et al., 2004).”
Where are the decomposers? Uncovering the soil food web of a tropical montane rain forest in southern Ecuador using stable isotopes (15N) (2005, background): “Phycophagous species are characterized by very low 15N signatures (cf. Schneider et al. 2004).”
Use of stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes in insect trophic ecology (2015, background): “Other N isotopic studies also have provided evidence on the diversification of feeding habits among soil microarthropods, such as oribatid mites (Schneider et al. 2004; Maraun et al. 2011) and collembolans (Chahartaghi et al. 2005).”