Radiocarbon analysis has been applied for the first time to successfully determine the feeding habits of springtails. (IMAGE)

Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute

Radiocarbon analysis has been applied for the first time to successfully determine the feeding habits of springtails.

Caption

Springtail species play an important role in soil food webs, and therefore, in terrestrial carbon cycling. But their feeding habits have remained elusive, especially since they are hard to isolate in required quantities from the soil. Researchers from Japan have now successfully applied novel radiocarbon analysis to achieve this objective.

Credit

Saori Fujii of Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute

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