Abstract
A series of experiments were applied to test how leaf orientation within microcosms affect consumption rates (Experiment 1), and to discover intra-specific differences in leaf litter consumption (Experiment 2) of the common isopod species Porcellio scaber and Porcellionides pruinosus. A standardised microcosm setup was developed for feeding experiments to maintain standard conditions. A constant amount of freshly fallen black poplar litter was provided to three distinct size class (small, medium, large) of woodlice. We measured litter consumption after a fortnight. We maintained appr. constant isopod biomass for all treatments, and equal densities within each size class. We hypothesized that different size classes differ in their litter consumption, therefore such differences should occur even within populations of the species. We also hypothesized a marked difference in consumption rates for different leaf orientation within microcosms. Our results showed size-specific consumption patterns for Porcellio scaber: small adults showed the highest consumption rates (i.e. litter mass loss / isopod biomass) in high density microcosms, while medium-sized adults of lower densities ate the most litter in containers. Leaf orientation posed no significant effect on litter consumption.
Highlights
Ecosystem processes, such as decomposition, are greatly influenced by the taxonomic and functional diversity of assemblages (Tilman et al 1997)
In our experiments we focused on distinct size classes of isopods
Moods median test revealed no significant effect of leaf orientation on the litter consumption rates of P. pruinosus (p=1)
Summary
Ecosystem processes, such as decomposition, are greatly influenced by the taxonomic and functional diversity of assemblages (Tilman et al 1997). Populations consist of phenotypically various individuals representing differences in traits such as sex, age and morphology Such differences have significant ecological consequences, such as intra-specific niche divergence among sexes (Shine 1989) and cohorts (Polis 1984, Werner and Gilliam 1984). In spite of these facts, as Bolnick et al (2003) have pointed out „...the majority of articles on measuring species’ niche width make no mention of the fact that individuals of the same species may use different resources...”, because ecologists consider individuals as interchangeable when creating models for species interactions (Bolnick et al 2011). As isotopic signature reflects the diet of an individual (De Niro and Epstein 1978), the above mentioned differences suggest measurable differences in food preferences within populations
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