| 1. |
- Bartels, Pia, et al.
(författare)
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Allochthonous Organic Matter Supports Benthic but Not Pelagic Food Webs in Shallow Coastal Ecosystems
- 2018
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Ingår i: Ecosystems (New York. Print). - : Springer. - 1432-9840 .- 1435-0629. ; 21:7, s. 1459-1470
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Rivers transport large amounts of allochthonous organic matter (OM) to the ocean every year, but there are still fundamental gaps in how allochthonous OM is processed in the marine environment. Here, we estimated the relative contribution of allochthonous OM (allochthony) to the biomass of benthic and pelagic consumers in a shallow coastal ecosystem in the northern Baltic Sea. We used deuterium as a tracer of allochthony and assessed both temporal variation (monthly from May to August) and spatial variation (within and outside river plume). We found variability in allochthony in space and time and across species, with overall higher values for zoobenthos (26.2 +/- 20.9%) than for zooplankton (0.8 +/- 0.3%). Zooplankton allochthony was highest in May and very low during the other months, likely as a result of high inputs of allochthonous OM during the spring flood that fueled the pelagic food chain for a short period. In contrast, zoobenthos allochthony was only lower in June and remained high during the other months. Allochthony of zoobenthos was generally higher close to the river mouth than outside of the river plume, whereas it did not vary spatially for zooplankton. Last, zoobenthos allochthony was higher in deeper than in shallower areas, indicating that allochthonous OM might be more important when autochthonous resources are limited. Our results suggest that climate change predictions of increasing inputs of allochthonous OM to coastal ecosystems may affect basal energy sources supporting coastal food webs.
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| 2. |
- Kashi, N. Niloufar, et al.
(författare)
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Nutrients Alter Methane Production and Oxidation in a Thawing Permafrost Mire
- 2023
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Ingår i: Ecosystems. - : Springer. - 1432-9840 .- 1435-0629. ; 26, s. 302-317
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Permafrost thaw releases nutrients and metals from previously frozen soils and these nutrients may affect important biogeochemical processes including methane (CH4) production and oxidation. Here we assessed how concentrations of nutrients, solutes, and metals varied across four plant communities undergoing permafrost thaw and if these geochemical characteristics affected rates of CH4 production and oxidation. We tested nutrient limitation in CH4 production and oxidation by experimentally adding nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and a permafrost leachate to peat across these four plant communities. The upper 20 cm of permafrost contained 715 ± 298 mg m−2 of extractable inorganic N and 20 ± 6 mg m−2 of resin-extractable phosphorus (Presin), for a N:P ratio of 36:1. These low amounts of Presin coincide with high acid-digestible aluminum (Al), iron (Fe), and P concentrations in the permafrost soil and suggest that P may accumulate via sorption and constrain easily available forms of P for plants and microbes. Permafrost leachate additions decreased potential CH4 production rates up to 80% and decreased CH4 oxidation rates by 66%, likely due to inhibitory effects of N in the permafrost. In contrast, organic and inorganic P additions increased CH4 oxidation rates up to 36% in the tall graminoid fen, a community where phosphate availability was low and CH4 production was high. Our results suggest that (1) inorganic N is available immediately from permafrost thaw, while (2) P availability is controlled by sorption properties, and (3) plant community, nutrient stoichiometry, and metal availability modulate how permafrost thaw affects CH4 production and oxidation.
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| 3. |
- Sitters, Judith, et al.
(författare)
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Interactive Effects Between Reindeer and Habitat Fertility Drive Soil Nutrient Availabilities in Arctic Tundra
- 2017
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Ingår i: Ecosystems (New York. Print). - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1432-9840 .- 1435-0629. ; 20:7, s. 1266-1277
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Herbivores impact nutrient availability and cycling, and the net effect of herbivory on soil nutrients is generally assumed to be positive in nutrient-rich environments and negative in nutrient-poor ones. This is, however, far from a uniform pattern, and there is a recognized need to investigate any interactive effects of herbivory and habitat fertility (i.e., plant C/N ratios) on soil nutrient availabilities. We determined long-term effects of reindeer on soil extractable nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) and their net mineralization rates along a fertility gradient of plant carbon (C) to N and P ratios in arctic tundra. Our results showed that reindeer had a positive effect on soil N in the more nutrient-poor sites and a negative effect on soil P in the more nutrient-rich sites, which contrasts from the general consensus. The increase in N availability was linked to a decrease in plant and litter C/N ratios, suggesting that a shift in vegetation composition toward more graminoids favors higher N cycling. Soil P availability was not as closely linked to the vegetation and is likely regulated more by herbivore-induced changes in soil physical and chemical properties. The changes in soil extractable N and P resulted in higher soil N/P ratios, suggesting that reindeer could drive the vegetation toward P-limitation. This research highlights the importance of including both the elements N and P and conducting studies along environmental gradients in order to better understand the interactive effects of herbivory and habitat fertility on nutrient cycling and primary production.
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