Humans are the ultimate ecosystem engineers, and the impacts of humans on diversity and ecosystem functions may be particularly high in urban areas, where most of the world’s humans live. One likely effect of human activity is a change in the nutritional ecology of urban-dwelling animals via anthropogenic food waste. There are many possible consequences of non-human species consuming anthropogenic food, particularly if it becomes a significant component of their diet. I have worked to identify the consequences of urban ants consuming anthropogenic food. It has been previously shown that urban ants show a preference for fats, which is unusual compared to ants in natural areas. My study addressed the question of whether this preference was a result of consuming anthropogenic foods. First, I showed that anthropogenic foods provide ants with high levels of carbohydrates, but provide very little dietary fats. I then found that while providing additional anthropogenic food subsidies cannot cause a shift in the nutrient preference of ants that already showed an extreme preference for fats, it could cause ants who had previously showed only a moderate fat preference to switch to an extreme preference. This suggests that feeding on carbohydrate-rich anthropogenic foods has consequences on the nutritional ecology of urban ants.
Subject (authority = RUETD)
Topic
Biology
Subject (authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Ants--New Jersey
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Rutgers University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier (type = RULIB)
ETD
Identifier
ETD_9016
PhysicalDescription
Form (authority = gmd)
electronic resource
InternetMediaType
application/pdf
InternetMediaType
text/xml
Extent
1 online resource (ii, 34 p. : ill.)
Note (type = degree)
M.S.
Note (type = bibliography)
Includes bibliographical references
Note (type = statement of responsibility)
by Melissa Carpenter
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Camden Graduate School Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier (type = local)
rucore10005600001
Location
PhysicalLocation (authority = marcorg); (displayLabel = Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey)
I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.