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How ecosystems recover from pulse perturbations: A theory of short- to long-term responses.

ABSTRACT: Quantifying stability properties of ecosystems is an important problem in ecology. A common approach is based on the recovery from pulse perturbations, and posits that the faster an ecosystem return to its pre-perturbation state, the more stable it is. Theoretical studies often collapse the recovery dynamics into a single quantity: the long-term rate of return, called asymptotic resilience. However, empirical studies typically measure the recovery dynamics at much shorter time scales. In this paper we explain why asymptotic resilience is rarely representative of the short-term recovery. First, we show that, in contrast to asymptotic resilience, short-term return rates depend on features of the perturbation, in particular on the way its intensity is distributed over species. We argue that empirically relevant predictions can be obtained by considering the median response over a set of perturbations, for which we provide explicit formulas. Next, we show that the recovery dynamics are controlled through time by different species: abundant species tend to govern the short-term recovery, while rare species often dominate the long-term recovery. This shift from abundant to rare species typically causes short-term return rates to be unrelated to asymptotic resilience. We illustrate that asymptotic resilience can be determined by rare species that have almost no effect on the observable part of the recovery dynamics. Finally, we discuss how these findings can help to better connect empirical observations and theoretical predictions.

SUBMITTER: Arnoldi JF

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5675055 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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How ecosystems recover from pulse perturbations: A theory of short- to long-term responses.

Arnoldi J-F JF Bideault A A Loreau M M Haegeman B B

Journal of theoretical biology 20171004

Quantifying stability properties of ecosystems is an important problem in ecology. A common approach is based on the recovery from pulse perturbations, and posits that the faster an ecosystem return to its pre-perturbation state, the more stable it is. Theoretical studies often collapse the recovery dynamics into a single quantity: the long-term rate of return, called asymptotic resilience. However, empirical studies typically measure the recovery dynamics at much shorter time scales. In this pa ...[more]

PMID: 28987466

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Project description:Increases in Arctic temperatures have thawed permafrost and accelerated tundra soil microbial activity, releasing greenhouse gases that amplify climate warming. Warming over time has also accelerated shrub encroachment in the tundra, altering plant input abundance and quality, and causing further changes to soil microbial processes. To better understand the effects of increased temperature and the accumulated effects of climate change on soil bacterial activity, we quantified the growth responses of individual bacterial taxa to short-term warming (3 months) and long-term warming (29 years) in moist acidic tussock tundra. Intact soil was assayed in the field for 30 days using 18O-labeled water, from which taxon-specific rates of 18O incorporation into DNA were estimated as a proxy for growth. Experimental treatments warmed the soil by approximately 1.5°C. Short-term warming increased average relative growth rates across the assemblage by 36%, and this increase was attributable to emergent growing taxa not detected in other treatments that doubled the diversity of growing bacteria. However, long-term warming increased average relative growth rates by 151%, and this was largely attributable to taxa that co-occurred in the ambient temperature controls. There was also coherence in relative growth rates within broad taxonomic levels with orders tending to have similar growth rates in all treatments. Growth responses tended to be neutral in short-term warming and positive in long-term warming for most taxa and phylogenetic groups co-occurring across treatments regardless of phylogeny. Taken together, growing bacteria responded distinctly to short-term and long-term warming, and taxa growing in each treatment exhibited deep phylogenetic organization. IMPORTANCE Soil carbon stocks in the tundra and underlying permafrost have become increasingly vulnerable to microbial decomposition due to climate change. The microbial responses to Arctic warming must be understood in order to predict the effects of future microbial activity on carbon balance in a warming Arctic. In response to our warming treatments, tundra soil bacteria grew faster, consistent with increased rates of decomposition and carbon flux to the atmosphere. Our findings suggest that bacterial growth rates may continue to increase in the coming decades as faster growth is driven by the accumulated effects of long-term warming. Observed phylogenetic organization of bacterial growth rates may also permit taxonomy-based predictions of bacterial responses to climate change and inclusion into ecosystem models.

Dataset Information

How ecosystems recover from pulse perturbations: A theory of short- to long-term responses.

Publications

How ecosystems recover from pulse perturbations: A theory of short- to long-term responses.

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