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49 results for “Detritus”

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dryad32/100

Data from: Stoichiometric imbalances between detritus and detritivores are related to shifts in ecosystem functioning

How are resource consumption and growth rates of litter-consuming detritivores affected by imbalances between consumer and litter C:N:P ratios? To address this question, we offered leaf litter as food to three aquatic detritivore species, which represent a gradient of increasing body N:P ratios: a crustacean, a caddisfly and a stonefly. The detritivores were placed in microcosms and submerged in a natural stream. Four contrasting leaf species were offered, both singly and in two-species mixtures, to obtain different levels of stoichiometric imbalance between the resources and their consumers. The results suggest that detritivore growth was constrained by N rather than C or P, even though 1) the N:P ratios of the consumers' body tissue was relatively low and 2) microbial leaf conditioning during the experiment reduced the N:P imbalance between detritivores and leaf litter. This surprisingly consistent N limitation may be a consequence of cumulative N-demand arising from the production of N-rich chitin in the exoskeletons of all three consumer species, which is lost during regular moults, in addition to N-demand for silk production by the caddisfly. These N requirements are not commonly quantified in stoichiometric analyses of arthropod consumers. There was no evidence for compensatory feeding, but when offered mixed-species litter varying in C:N:P ratios, detritivores consumed more of the litter species showing the highest N:P and lowest C:N ratio, accelerating the mass loss of the preferred leaf species in the litter mixture. These results show that imbalances in consumer–resource stoichiometry can have contrasting effects on coupled processes, highlighting a challenge in developing a mechanistic understanding of the role of stoichiometry in regulating ecosystem processes such as leaf litter decomposition.

opencc-zeroDec 2014View details →

dryad32/100

Data from: Hurricane-mediated defoliation of kelp beds and pulsed delivery of kelp detritus to offshore sedimentary habitats

Severe storm events are important agents of disturbance that can transport large quantities of algal detritus from highly productive kelp beds (or forests) in shallow water to deeper, more food-limited areas. We measured canopy cover in shallow kelp beds (5 to 15 m depth) and the cover of detrital kelp in sedimentary habitats directly offshore of these beds (20 to 45 m) before and after Hurricane Earl, which struck the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia in September 2010. The storm resulted in large losses of kelp canopy cover (from 71.0 to 38.7%, averaged across sites) and significantly increased the cover of detrital kelp deposits below the kelp beds (from 1.5 to 3.4%). Detrital deposits were more commonly found in a semi-protected bay than off an exposed headland and persisted in the bay for at least 6 wk. Sea urchins Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis were associated with detrital kelp deposits in offshore habitats. At sites with the greatest amount of detrital kelp, we estimated that sea urchins could consume this material within 2 mo, indicating that storm-generated detrital pulses may be an important form of trophic connectivity between adjacent ecosystems off this coast.

opencc-zeroDec 2012View details →

dryad32/100

Data from: Disentangling the 'brown world' faecal-detritus interaction web: dung beetle effects on soil microbial properties

Many ecosystem services are sustained by the combined action of microscopic and macroscopic organisms, and shaped by interactions between the two. However, studies tend to focus on only one of these two components. We combined the two by investigating the impact of macrofauna on microbial community composition and functioning in the context of a major ecosystem process: the decomposition of dung. We compared bacterial communities of pasture soil and experimental dung pats inhabited by one (Aphodius), two (Aphodius and Geotrupes), or no dung beetle genera. Overall, we found distinct microbial communities in soil and dung samples, and that the communities converged over the course of the experiment. Characterising the soil microbial communities underlying the dung pats revealed a significant interactive effect between the microflora and macrofauna, where the diversity and composition of microbial communities was significantly affected by the presence or absence of dung beetles. The specific identity of the beetles had no detectable impact, but the microbial evenness was lower in the presence of both Aphodius and Geotrupes than in the presence of Aphodius alone. Differences in microbial community composition were associated with differences in substrate usage as measured by Ecoplates. Moreover, microbial communities with similar compositions showed more similar substrate usage. Our study suggests that the presence of macrofauna (dung beetles) will modify the microflora (bacteria) of both dung pats and pasture soil, including community diversity and functioning. In particular, the presence of dung beetles promotes the transfer of bacteria across the soil–dung interface, resulting in increased similarity in community structure and functioning. The results demonstrate that to understand how microbes contribute to the ecosystem process of dung decomposition, there is a need to understand their interactions with larger co-occurring fauna.

opencc-zeroDec 2014View details →

dryad32/100