Nutritional ecology of ant communities in New York City

Widespread and abundant, ants often numerically dominate local arthropod communities. They are keystone predators in some habitats, participate in key mutualistic interactions, and can strongly influence ecosystem processes such as decomposition, nutrient cycling and primary productivity. In addition to natural areas, ants are also prominent in urban environments. The goal of this project was to compare nutritional differences among ants that live in highly urban habitats vs. wooded areas within New York City (USA). We focused on two habitats: 1) fragmented medians along Broadway, and 2) adjacent park sites that host a relatively high diversity of native ant species. We conducted a stable-isotope analysis to investigate nutritional differences between ant communities in both habitat types. In addition to community-wide comparisons, we also compared differences in carbohydrate to nitrogen ratios within species that occur in both habitats, such as Tetramorium sp. E. We predicted that the availability of carbohydrate and protein resources would vary across these different habitats and may influence community structure. Furthermore, ants may rely more on human food waste to supplement their diet in nutrient-limited environments, such as medians.