@article {94909,
	title = {Trophic Structure in a Seabird Host-Parasite Food Web: Insights from Stable Isotope Analyses},
	journal = {PLoS ONE},
	volume = {5},
	year = {2010},
	month = {Apr-05-2010},
	pages = {7pp},
	type = {Open access e10454},
	abstract = {<p>Ecological\&nbsp; studies\&nbsp; on\&nbsp; food\&nbsp; webs\&nbsp; rarely\&nbsp; include\&nbsp; parasites,\&nbsp; partly\&nbsp; due\&nbsp; to\&nbsp; the\&nbsp; complexity\&nbsp; and\&nbsp; dimensionality\&nbsp; of\&nbsp; host-parasiteinteraction\&nbsp; networks.\&nbsp; Multiple\&nbsp; co-occurring\&nbsp; parasites\&nbsp; can\&nbsp; show\&nbsp; different\&nbsp; feeding\&nbsp; strategies\&nbsp; and\&nbsp; thus\&nbsp; lead\&nbsp; to\&nbsp; complex\&nbsp; andcryptic\&nbsp; trophic\&nbsp; relationships,\&nbsp; which\&nbsp; are\&nbsp; often\&nbsp; difficult\&nbsp; to\&nbsp; disentangle\&nbsp; by\&nbsp; traditional\&nbsp; methods.\&nbsp; We\&nbsp; analyzed\&nbsp; stable\&nbsp; isotoperatios\&nbsp; of\&nbsp; C\&nbsp; (13C/12C,d13C)\&nbsp; and\&nbsp; N\&nbsp; (15N/14N,d15N)\&nbsp; of\&nbsp; host\&nbsp; and\&nbsp; ectoparasite\&nbsp; tissues\&nbsp; to\&nbsp; investigate\&nbsp; trophic\&nbsp; structure\&nbsp; in\&nbsp; 4\&nbsp; co-occurring\&nbsp; ectoparasites:\&nbsp; three\&nbsp; lice\&nbsp; and\&nbsp; one\&nbsp; flea\&nbsp; species,\&nbsp; on\&nbsp; two\&nbsp; closely\&nbsp; related\&nbsp; and\&nbsp; spatially\&nbsp; segregated\&nbsp; seabird\&nbsp; hosts(Calonectrisshearwaters).d13C\&nbsp; isotopic\&nbsp; signatures\&nbsp; confirmed\&nbsp; feathers\&nbsp; as\&nbsp; the\&nbsp; main\&nbsp; food\&nbsp; resource\&nbsp; for\&nbsp; the\&nbsp; three\&nbsp; lice\&nbsp; speciesand blood for the flea species. All ectoparasite species showed a significant enrichment ind15N relatively to the host tissueconsumed\&nbsp; (discrimination\&nbsp; factors\&nbsp; ranged\&nbsp; from\&nbsp; 2\&nbsp; to\&nbsp; 5\%depending\&nbsp; on\&nbsp; the\&nbsp; species).\&nbsp; Isotopic\&nbsp; differences\&nbsp; were\&nbsp; consistentacross\&nbsp; multiple\&nbsp; host-ectoparasite\&nbsp; locations,\&nbsp; despite\&nbsp; of\&nbsp; some\&nbsp; geographic\&nbsp; variability\&nbsp; in\&nbsp; baseline\&nbsp; isotopic\&nbsp; levels. Our\&nbsp; findingsillustrate\&nbsp;\&nbsp; the\&nbsp;\&nbsp; influence\&nbsp;\&nbsp; of\&nbsp;\&nbsp; both\&nbsp;\&nbsp; ectoparasite\&nbsp;\&nbsp; and\&nbsp;\&nbsp; host\&nbsp;\&nbsp; trophic\&nbsp;\&nbsp; ecology\&nbsp;\&nbsp; in\&nbsp;\&nbsp; the\&nbsp;\&nbsp; isotopic\&nbsp;\&nbsp; structuring\&nbsp;\&nbsp; of\&nbsp;\&nbsp; theCalonectrisectoparasite\&nbsp; community.\&nbsp; This\&nbsp; study\&nbsp; highlights\&nbsp; the\&nbsp; potential\&nbsp; of\&nbsp; stable\&nbsp; isotope\&nbsp; analyses\&nbsp; in\&nbsp; disentangling\&nbsp; the\&nbsp; nature\&nbsp; andcomplexity\&nbsp; of\&nbsp; trophic\&nbsp; relationships\&nbsp; in\&nbsp; symbiotic\&nbsp; systems.</p>
},
	doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0010454},
	url = {http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0010454},
	author = {G{\'o}mez-D{\'\i}az,Elena and Gonz{\'a}lez-Sol{\'\i}s,J.}
}
