Dataset Information

Burrowing detritivores regulate nutrient cycling in a desert ecosystem.

ABSTRACT: Nutrient cycling in most terrestrial ecosystems is controlled by moisture-dependent decomposer activity. In arid ecosystems, plant litter cycling exceeds rates predicted based on precipitation amounts, suggesting that additional factors are involved. Attempts to reveal these factors have focused on abiotic degradation, soil-litter mixing and alternative moisture sources. Our aim was to explore an additional hypothesis that macro-detritivores control litter cycling in deserts. We quantified the role different organisms play in clearing plant detritus from the desert surface, using litter baskets with different mesh sizes that allow selective entry of micro-, meso- or macrofauna. We also measured soil nutrient concentrations in increasing distances from the burrows of a highly abundant macro-detritivore, the desert isopod Hemilepistus reaumuri. Macro-detritivores controlled the clearing of plant litter in our field site. The highest rates of litter removal were measured during the hot and dry summer when isopod activity peaks and microbial activity is minimal. We also found substantial enrichment of inorganic nitrogen and phosphorous near isopod burrows. We conclude that burrowing macro-detritivores are important regulators of litter cycling in this arid ecosystem, providing a plausible general mechanism that explains the unexpectedly high rates of plant litter cycling in deserts.

SUBMITTER: Sagi N

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6842856 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Burrowing detritivores regulate nutrient cycling in a desert ecosystem.

Sagi Nevo N Grünzweig José M JM Hawlena Dror D

Proceedings. Biological sciences 20191030 1914

Nutrient cycling in most terrestrial ecosystems is controlled by moisture-dependent decomposer activity. In arid ecosystems, plant litter cycling exceeds rates predicted based on precipitation amounts, suggesting that additional factors are involved. Attempts to reveal these factors have focused on abiotic degradation, soil-litter mixing and alternative moisture sources. Our aim was to explore an additional hypothesis that macro-detritivores control litter cycling in deserts. We quantified the r ...[more]

PMID: 31662076

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Project description:Anthropogenic nutrient inputs into native ecosystems cause fluctuations in resources that normally limit plant growth, which has important consequences for associated food webs. Such inputs from agricultural and urban habitats into nearby natural systems are increasing globally and can be highly variable, spanning the range from sporadic to continuous. Despite the global increase in anthropogenically-derived nutrient inputs into native ecosystems, the consequences of variation in subsidy duration on native plants and their associated food webs are poorly known. Specifically, while some studies have examined the effects of nutrient subsidies on native ecosystems for a single year (a nutrient pulse), repeated introductions of nutrients across multiple years (a nutrient press) better reflect the persistent nature of anthropogenic nutrient enrichment. We therefore contrasted the effects of a one-year nutrient pulse with a four-year nutrient press on arthropod consumers in two salt marshes. Salt marshes represent an ideal system to address the differential impacts of nutrient pulses and presses on ecosystem and community dynamics because human development and other anthropogenic activities lead to recurrent introductions of nutrients into these natural systems. We found that plant biomass and %N as well as arthropod density fell after the nutrient pulse ended but remained elevated throughout the nutrient press. Notably, higher trophic levels responded more strongly than lower trophic levels to fertilization, and the predator/prey ratio increased each year of the nutrient press, demonstrating that food web responses to anthropogenic nutrient enrichment can take years to fully manifest themselves. Vegetation at the two marshes also exhibited an apparent tradeoff between increasing %N and biomass in response to fertilization. Our research emphasizes the need for long-term, spatially diverse studies of nutrient enrichment in order to understand how variation in the duration of anthropogenic nutrient subsidies affects native ecosystems.

Dataset Information

Burrowing detritivores regulate nutrient cycling in a desert ecosystem.

Publications

Burrowing detritivores regulate nutrient cycling in a desert ecosystem.

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