[Isotopic signature (15N/14N and 13C/12C) confirms similarity of trophic niches of millipedes (Myriapoda, Diplopoda) in a temperate deciduous forest].

The species composition, abundance, and isotopic signature of millipedes (Myriapoda, Diplopoda) were investigated in seven biotopes of Kaluzhskie Zaseki State Nature Reserve. Nine Diplopoda species were found in total, and the local species diversity (within a sampling plot) reached seven species. The Diplopoda tissues were similar to the plant litter in the isotopic composition of nitrogen (delta15N was by 0.4% per hundred higher, on average), but were more strongly enriched in heavy carbon (delta13C was by 4% per hundred higher, on average). Removal of mineral carbon from the cuticle reduced delta13C of Diplopoda by about 1.4% per hundred on average. Differences in the delta15N and delta13C values between the species did not exceed 2.5 per hundred. Differences in the isotopic compositions of the considered species are insignificant, and thus, it is impossible to distinguish particular trophic guilds in the Diplopoda community. Analysis of the published data confirmed that isotopic differentiation of millipedes was much less pronounced than in other investigated groups of soil animals. Hence, millipedes of the deciduous forest form a uniform trophic group.