title: Stable isotope analysis reveals whether soil-living elaterid larvae move between agricultural crops.
abstract: Tracking the movement of soil-living herbivores is difficult, albeit important for understanding their spatial ecology as well as for pest management. In this study the movement of Agriotes obscurus larvae between plots harbouring isotopically different plants was examined. Neither between maize and wheat nor between maize and grassland movement could be detected. These data suggest that Agriotes larvae rarely disperse between crops as long as local food supply is sufficient. Moreover, the current approach provides a new means to study the dispersal of soil invertebrates in situ.
authors.affiliation: Mountain Agriculture Research Unit, Institute of Ecology, University of Innsbruck, Technikerstrasse 25, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Schallhart
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Tusch
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Staudacher
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wallinger
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Traugott