Ecological Stoichiometry of the Mountain Cryosphere
Roughly 10% of the Earth's surface is permanently covered by glaciers and ice sheets and in mountain ecosystems, this proportion of ice cover is often even higher. From an ecological perspective, ice-dominated ecosystems place harsh controls on life including cold temperature, limited nutrient...
Published in: | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:1666aca10064451a8a7d275af18b3382 2023-05-15T13:46:32+02:00 Ecological Stoichiometry of the Mountain Cryosphere Ze Ren Nicolas Martyniuk Isabella A. Oleksy Anshuman Swain Scott Hotaling 2019-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2019.00360 https://doaj.org/article/1666aca10064451a8a7d275af18b3382 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fevo.2019.00360/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-701X 2296-701X doi:10.3389/fevo.2019.00360 https://doaj.org/article/1666aca10064451a8a7d275af18b3382 Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Vol 7 (2019) alpine glacier biology nutrient dynamics C:N supraglacial subglacial Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2019.00360 2022-12-31T01:35:13Z Roughly 10% of the Earth's surface is permanently covered by glaciers and ice sheets and in mountain ecosystems, this proportion of ice cover is often even higher. From an ecological perspective, ice-dominated ecosystems place harsh controls on life including cold temperature, limited nutrient availability, and often prolonged darkness due to snow cover for much of the year. Despite these limitations, glaciers, and perennial snowfields support diverse, primarily microbial communities, though macroinvertebrates and vertebrates are also present. The availability and mass balance of key elements [(carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P)] are known to influence the population dynamics of organisms, and ultimately shape the structure and function of ecosystems worldwide. While considerable attention has been devoted to patterns of biodiversity in mountain cryosphere-influenced ecosystems, the ecological stoichiometry of these habitats has received much less attention. Understanding this emerging research arena is particularly pressing in light of the rapid recession of glaciers and perennial snowfields worldwide. In this review, we synthesize existing knowledge of ecological stoichiometry, nutrient availability, and food webs in the mountain cryosphere (specifically glaciers and perennial snowfields). We use this synthesis to develop more general understanding of nutrient origins, distributions, and trophic interactions in these imperiled ecosystems. We focus our efforts on three major habitats: glacier surfaces (supraglacial), the area beneath glaciers (subglacial), and adjacent downstream habitats (i.e., glacier-fed streams and lakes). We compare nutrient availability in these habitats to comparable habitats on continental ice sheets (e.g., Greenland and Antarctica) and show that, in general, nutrient levels are substantially different between the two. We also discuss how ongoing climate warming will alter nutrient and trophic dynamics in mountain glacier-influenced ecosystems. We conclude by highlighting the ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica glacier Greenland Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Greenland Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 7 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
alpine glacier biology nutrient dynamics C:N supraglacial subglacial Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
alpine glacier biology nutrient dynamics C:N supraglacial subglacial Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5 Ze Ren Nicolas Martyniuk Isabella A. Oleksy Anshuman Swain Scott Hotaling Ecological Stoichiometry of the Mountain Cryosphere |
topic_facet |
alpine glacier biology nutrient dynamics C:N supraglacial subglacial Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
Roughly 10% of the Earth's surface is permanently covered by glaciers and ice sheets and in mountain ecosystems, this proportion of ice cover is often even higher. From an ecological perspective, ice-dominated ecosystems place harsh controls on life including cold temperature, limited nutrient availability, and often prolonged darkness due to snow cover for much of the year. Despite these limitations, glaciers, and perennial snowfields support diverse, primarily microbial communities, though macroinvertebrates and vertebrates are also present. The availability and mass balance of key elements [(carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P)] are known to influence the population dynamics of organisms, and ultimately shape the structure and function of ecosystems worldwide. While considerable attention has been devoted to patterns of biodiversity in mountain cryosphere-influenced ecosystems, the ecological stoichiometry of these habitats has received much less attention. Understanding this emerging research arena is particularly pressing in light of the rapid recession of glaciers and perennial snowfields worldwide. In this review, we synthesize existing knowledge of ecological stoichiometry, nutrient availability, and food webs in the mountain cryosphere (specifically glaciers and perennial snowfields). We use this synthesis to develop more general understanding of nutrient origins, distributions, and trophic interactions in these imperiled ecosystems. We focus our efforts on three major habitats: glacier surfaces (supraglacial), the area beneath glaciers (subglacial), and adjacent downstream habitats (i.e., glacier-fed streams and lakes). We compare nutrient availability in these habitats to comparable habitats on continental ice sheets (e.g., Greenland and Antarctica) and show that, in general, nutrient levels are substantially different between the two. We also discuss how ongoing climate warming will alter nutrient and trophic dynamics in mountain glacier-influenced ecosystems. We conclude by highlighting the ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ze Ren Nicolas Martyniuk Isabella A. Oleksy Anshuman Swain Scott Hotaling |
author_facet |
Ze Ren Nicolas Martyniuk Isabella A. Oleksy Anshuman Swain Scott Hotaling |
author_sort |
Ze Ren |
title |
Ecological Stoichiometry of the Mountain Cryosphere |
title_short |
Ecological Stoichiometry of the Mountain Cryosphere |
title_full |
Ecological Stoichiometry of the Mountain Cryosphere |
title_fullStr |
Ecological Stoichiometry of the Mountain Cryosphere |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ecological Stoichiometry of the Mountain Cryosphere |
title_sort |
ecological stoichiometry of the mountain cryosphere |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2019.00360 https://doaj.org/article/1666aca10064451a8a7d275af18b3382 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica glacier Greenland |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica glacier Greenland |
op_source |
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Vol 7 (2019) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fevo.2019.00360/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-701X 2296-701X doi:10.3389/fevo.2019.00360 https://doaj.org/article/1666aca10064451a8a7d275af18b3382 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2019.00360 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
7 |
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1766244015958654976 |