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Ferraro KM, Welker L, Ward EB, Schmitz OJ, Bradford MA. Plant mycorrhizal associations mediate the zoogeochemical effects of calving subsidies by a forest ungulate. J Anim Ecol 2023; 92:2280-2296. [PMID: 37667666 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.14002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2023] [Accepted: 07/20/2023] [Indexed: 09/06/2023]
Abstract
Animals interact with and impact ecosystem biogeochemical cycling-processes known as zoogeochemistry. While the deposition of various animal materials (e.g. carcasses and faeces) has been shown to create nutrient hotspots and alter nutrient cycling and storage, the inputs from parturition (i.e. calving) have yet to be explored. We examine the effects of ungulate parturition, which often occurs synchronously during spring green-up and therefore aligns with increased plant nitrogen demand in temperate biomes. Impacts of zoogeochemical inputs are likely context-dependent, where differences in material quality, quantity and the system of deposition modulate their impacts. Plant mycorrhizal associations, especially, create different nutrient-availability contexts, which can modify the effects of nutrient inputs. We, therefore, hypothesize that mycorrhizal associations modulate the consequences of parturition on soil nutrient dynamics and nitrogen pools. We established experimental plots that explore the potential of two kinds of zoogeochemical inputs deposited at ungulate parturition (placenta and natal fluid) in forest microsites dominated by either ericoid mycorrhizal (ErM) or ectomycorrhizal (EcM) plants. We assess how these inputs affect rates of nutrient cycling and nitrogen content in various ecosystem pools, using isotope tracers to track the fate of nitrogen inputs into plant and soil pools. Parturition treatments accelerate nutrient cycling processes and increase nitrogen contents in the plant leaf, stem and fine root pools. The ecosystem context strongly modulates these effects. Microsites dominated by ErM plants mute parturition treatment impacts on most nutrient cycling processes and plant pools. Both plant-fungal associations are, however, equally efficient at retaining nitrogen, although retention of nitrogen in the parturition treatment plots was more than two times lower than in control plots. Our results highlight the potential importance of previously unexamined nitrogen inputs from animal inputs, such as those from parturition, in contributing to fine-scale heterogeneity in nutrient cycling and availability. Animal inputs should therefore be considered, along with their interactions with plant mycorrhizal associations, in terms of how zoogeochemical dynamics collectively affect nutrient heterogeneity in ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristy M Ferraro
- Yale University School of the Environment, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Les Welker
- Yale University School of the Environment, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Elisabeth B Ward
- The New York Botanical Garden, The Bronx, New York, USA
- The Forest School, Yale University School of the Environment, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
- Department of Environmental Science and Forestry, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Oswald J Schmitz
- Yale University School of the Environment, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Mark A Bradford
- Yale University School of the Environment, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
- The Forest School, Yale University School of the Environment, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
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Bashinskiy IW, Dgebuadze YY, Sushchik NN, Osipov VV, Gladyshev MI. Spadefoot Pelobates vespertinus (Amphibia, Pelobatidae) as a transmitter of fatty acids from water to land in a forest-steppe floodplain. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 877:162819. [PMID: 36931523 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162819] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2023] [Revised: 03/06/2023] [Accepted: 03/08/2023] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
The transfer of biomass and polyunsaturated fatty acids by the spadefoot P. vespertinus (previously subspecies of P. fuscus) from aquatic to terrestrial ecosystems was studied for five years in small floodplain water bodies of a forest-steppe zone. Average emergence of metamorphs from unit of water area, wet mass was 6.7 g m-2 year-1. A ratio of the emergence to biomass was calculated and represented as E/B coefficient (an analog of P/B production/biomass coefficient). The average E/B was found to be 0.038 year-1. The introduced coefficient can be used for a coarse estimation of the emergence on the basis of tadpole biomass measurements. A considerable partitioning of tadpoles and metamorphs in the composition of fatty acids in their biomass was revealed. Tadpoles had significantly higher mean levels (percent of total fatty acids) of 16:0, 16:1n-9, 18:0, 20:5n-3 and 22:5n-3, while metamorphs had significantly higher levels of 14:0, 15:0, 17:0, 17:1n-8, 18:2n-6, 20:2n-6, 20:4n-6 and 22:5n-6, likely due to the shifting to terrestrial food. Metamorphs had significantly higher content of total fatty acids, mg g-1 of wet weight, and, in spite of lower level, they had significantly higher content of eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n-3, EPA) than tadpoles. Metamorphs also had significantly higher content of docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3, DHA) and sum of EPA + DHA than tadpoles. Average flux of EPA + DHA from unit of water area with metamorphs was 3.27 mg m-2 year-1. The metamorphs appeared to be qualitatively and quantitatively prominent prey for a number of terrestrial consumers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivan W Bashinskiy
- Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119071, Leninsky pr. 33, Moscow, Russia.
| | - Yury Yu Dgebuadze
- Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119071, Leninsky pr. 33, Moscow, Russia; Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Nadezhda N Sushchik
- Institute of Biophysics, Federal Research Center "Krasnoyarsk Scientific Center" of Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Akademgorodok, Krasnoyarsk 660036, Russia; Siberian Federal University, Svobodny av. 79, Krasnoyarsk, 660041, Russia
| | - Vitaly V Osipov
- State Nature Reserve Privolzhskaya, Lesostep, 440031, Penza, Okruzhnaya 12A, Russia; Saratov Branch of Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography, Chernyshevskogo 152, Saratov 410002, Russia
| | - Michail I Gladyshev
- Institute of Biophysics, Federal Research Center "Krasnoyarsk Scientific Center" of Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Akademgorodok, Krasnoyarsk 660036, Russia; Siberian Federal University, Svobodny av. 79, Krasnoyarsk, 660041, Russia
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Koltz AM, Gough L, McLaren JR. Herbivores in Arctic ecosystems: Effects of climate change and implications for carbon and nutrient cycling. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2022; 1516:28-47. [PMID: 35881516 PMCID: PMC9796801 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.14863] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Arctic terrestrial herbivores influence tundra carbon and nutrient dynamics through their consumption of resources, waste production, and habitat-modifying behaviors. The strength of these effects is likely to change spatially and temporally as climate change drives shifts in herbivore abundance, distribution, and activity timing. Here, we review how herbivores influence tundra carbon and nutrient dynamics through their consumptive and nonconsumptive effects. We also present evidence for herbivore responses to climate change and discuss how these responses may alter the spatial and temporal distribution of herbivore impacts. Several current knowledge gaps limit our understanding of the changing functional roles of herbivores; these include limited characterization of the spatial and temporal variability in herbivore impacts and of how herbivore activities influence the cycling of elements beyond carbon. We conclude by highlighting approaches that will promote better understanding of herbivore effects on tundra ecosystems, including their integration into existing biogeochemical models, new applications of remote sensing techniques, and the continued use of distributed experiments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda M. Koltz
- Department of BiologyWashington University in St. LouisSt. LouisMissouriUSA,The Arctic InstituteCenter for Circumpolar Security StudiesWashingtonDCUSA,Department of Integrative BiologyUniversity of Texas at AustinAustinTexasUSA
| | - Laura Gough
- Department of Biological SciencesTowson UniversityTowsonMarylandUSA
| | - Jennie R. McLaren
- Department of Biological SciencesUniversity of Texas El PasoEl PasoTexasUSA
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