Background insect herbivory increases with local elevation but makes minor contribution to element cycling along natural gradients in the Subarctic
Abstract Herbivores can exert major controls over biogeochemical cycling. As invertebrates are highly sensitive to temperature shifts (ectothermal), the abundances of insects in high‐latitude systems, where climate warming is rapid, is expected to increase. In subarctic mountain birch forests, resea...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:c51a73e528e4460ca4ad64fb72aadae6 2023-05-15T17:45:10+02:00 Background insect herbivory increases with local elevation but makes minor contribution to element cycling along natural gradients in the Subarctic Jeppe A. Kristensen Anders Michelsen Daniel B. Metcalfe 2020-10-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6803 https://doaj.org/article/c51a73e528e4460ca4ad64fb72aadae6 EN eng Wiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6803 https://doaj.org/toc/2045-7758 2045-7758 doi:10.1002/ece3.6803 https://doaj.org/article/c51a73e528e4460ca4ad64fb72aadae6 Ecology and Evolution, Vol 10, Iss 20, Pp 11684-11698 (2020) carbon cycling fast cycle versus slow cycle insect herbivory nutrient cycling space‐for‐time substitution Subarctic mountain birch forest Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6803 2022-12-30T20:15:03Z Abstract Herbivores can exert major controls over biogeochemical cycling. As invertebrates are highly sensitive to temperature shifts (ectothermal), the abundances of insects in high‐latitude systems, where climate warming is rapid, is expected to increase. In subarctic mountain birch forests, research has focussed on geometrid moth outbreaks, while the contribution of background insect herbivory (BIH) to elemental cycling is poorly constrained. In northern Sweden, we estimated BIH along 9 elevational gradients distributed across a gradient in regional elevation, temperature, and precipitation to allow evaluation of consistency in local versus regional variation. We converted foliar loss via BIH to fluxes of C, nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) from the birch canopy to the soil to compare with other relevant soil inputs of the same elements and assessed different abiotic and biotic drivers of the observed variability. We found that leaf area loss due to BIH was ~1.6% on average. This is comparable to estimates from tundra, but considerably lower than ecosystems at lower latitudes. The C, N, and P fluxes from canopy to soil associated with BIH were 1–2 orders of magnitude lower than the soil input from senesced litter and external nutrient sources such as biological N fixation, atmospheric deposition of N, and P weathering estimated from the literature. Despite the minor contribution to overall elemental cycling in subarctic birch forests, the higher quality and earlier timing of the input of herbivore deposits to soils compared to senesced litter may make this contribution disproportionally important for various ecosystem functions. BIH increased significantly with leaf N content as well as local elevation along each transect, yet showed no significant relationship with temperature or humidity, nor the commonly used temperature proxy, absolute elevation. The lack of consistency between the local and regional elevational trends calls for caution when using elevation gradients as climate proxies. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northern Sweden Subarctic Tundra Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Ecology and Evolution 10 20 11684 11698 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
carbon cycling fast cycle versus slow cycle insect herbivory nutrient cycling space‐for‐time substitution Subarctic mountain birch forest Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
carbon cycling fast cycle versus slow cycle insect herbivory nutrient cycling space‐for‐time substitution Subarctic mountain birch forest Ecology QH540-549.5 Jeppe A. Kristensen Anders Michelsen Daniel B. Metcalfe Background insect herbivory increases with local elevation but makes minor contribution to element cycling along natural gradients in the Subarctic |
topic_facet |
carbon cycling fast cycle versus slow cycle insect herbivory nutrient cycling space‐for‐time substitution Subarctic mountain birch forest Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
Abstract Herbivores can exert major controls over biogeochemical cycling. As invertebrates are highly sensitive to temperature shifts (ectothermal), the abundances of insects in high‐latitude systems, where climate warming is rapid, is expected to increase. In subarctic mountain birch forests, research has focussed on geometrid moth outbreaks, while the contribution of background insect herbivory (BIH) to elemental cycling is poorly constrained. In northern Sweden, we estimated BIH along 9 elevational gradients distributed across a gradient in regional elevation, temperature, and precipitation to allow evaluation of consistency in local versus regional variation. We converted foliar loss via BIH to fluxes of C, nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) from the birch canopy to the soil to compare with other relevant soil inputs of the same elements and assessed different abiotic and biotic drivers of the observed variability. We found that leaf area loss due to BIH was ~1.6% on average. This is comparable to estimates from tundra, but considerably lower than ecosystems at lower latitudes. The C, N, and P fluxes from canopy to soil associated with BIH were 1–2 orders of magnitude lower than the soil input from senesced litter and external nutrient sources such as biological N fixation, atmospheric deposition of N, and P weathering estimated from the literature. Despite the minor contribution to overall elemental cycling in subarctic birch forests, the higher quality and earlier timing of the input of herbivore deposits to soils compared to senesced litter may make this contribution disproportionally important for various ecosystem functions. BIH increased significantly with leaf N content as well as local elevation along each transect, yet showed no significant relationship with temperature or humidity, nor the commonly used temperature proxy, absolute elevation. The lack of consistency between the local and regional elevational trends calls for caution when using elevation gradients as climate proxies. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jeppe A. Kristensen Anders Michelsen Daniel B. Metcalfe |
author_facet |
Jeppe A. Kristensen Anders Michelsen Daniel B. Metcalfe |
author_sort |
Jeppe A. Kristensen |
title |
Background insect herbivory increases with local elevation but makes minor contribution to element cycling along natural gradients in the Subarctic |
title_short |
Background insect herbivory increases with local elevation but makes minor contribution to element cycling along natural gradients in the Subarctic |
title_full |
Background insect herbivory increases with local elevation but makes minor contribution to element cycling along natural gradients in the Subarctic |
title_fullStr |
Background insect herbivory increases with local elevation but makes minor contribution to element cycling along natural gradients in the Subarctic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Background insect herbivory increases with local elevation but makes minor contribution to element cycling along natural gradients in the Subarctic |
title_sort |
background insect herbivory increases with local elevation but makes minor contribution to element cycling along natural gradients in the subarctic |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6803 https://doaj.org/article/c51a73e528e4460ca4ad64fb72aadae6 |
genre |
Northern Sweden Subarctic Tundra |
genre_facet |
Northern Sweden Subarctic Tundra |
op_source |
Ecology and Evolution, Vol 10, Iss 20, Pp 11684-11698 (2020) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6803 https://doaj.org/toc/2045-7758 2045-7758 doi:10.1002/ece3.6803 https://doaj.org/article/c51a73e528e4460ca4ad64fb72aadae6 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6803 |
container_title |
Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
20 |
container_start_page |
11684 |
op_container_end_page |
11698 |
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1766147962504740864 |