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Crab regulation of cross-ecosystem resource transfer by marine foraging fire ants

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Abstract

Permeability of boundaries in biological systems is regulated by biotic and/or abiotic factors. Despite this knowledge, the role of biotic factors in regulating resource transfer across ecosystem boundaries has received little study. Additionally, little is known about how cross-ecosystem resource transfer affects source populations. We used experiments, observations and stable isotopes, to evaluate: (1) the proportion of intertidal-foraging black fire ant (Solenopsis richteri) diet derived from marine sources, (2) how black fire ant cross-ecosystem resource transfer is altered by the dominant bioengineer in the intertidal, a burrowing crab (Neohelice granulata), (3) the top-down impact of these terrestrial ants on a marine resource, and (4) the effect of marine resources on recipient black fire ants. We found that more than 85% of the black fire ant diet is derived from marine sources, the number of intertidal foraging ants doubles in the absence of crab burrows, and that ants cause a 50% reduction in intertidal polychaetes. Also, ant mound density is three times greater adjacent to marine systems. This study reveals that cross-ecosystem foraging terrestrial ants can clearly have strong impacts on marine resources. Furthermore, ecosystem engineers that modify and occupy habitat in these ecosystem boundaries can strongly regulate the degree of cross-ecosystem resource transfer and resultant top down impacts.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Andrew Altieri, Fernanda Álvarez, Pedro Daleo, Oscar Iribarne, John Griffin, Craig Layman, Tim Jardine, Andy Suarez, Danielle Warfe and three anonymous reviewers. This work was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) DBI-0610312 (to E.A. Garcia), the Mellon Foundation (to M.D. Bertness) and the Ecology program at NSF (to M.D. Bertness and B.R. Silliman).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tropical Rivers and Coastal Knowledge, Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Red 1, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, 0909, Australia

    Erica A. Garcia

  2. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI, 02912, USA

    Mark D. Bertness

  3. Departamento de Biología (FCEyN), Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, CC 573 Correo Central, B7600WAG, Mar del Plata, Argentina

    Juan Alberti

  4. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Rivadavia 1917, CP C1033AAJ, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Juan Alberti

  5. Department of Zoology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    Brian R. Silliman

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  1. Erica A. Garcia
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  2. Mark D. Bertness
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  4. Brian R. Silliman
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Correspondence to Erica A. Garcia.

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Garcia, E.A., Bertness, M.D., Alberti, J. et al. Crab regulation of cross-ecosystem resource transfer by marine foraging fire ants. Oecologia 166, 1111–1119 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-011-1952-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-011-1952-x

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