Herbivore Effects on Ecosystem Process Rates in a Low-Productive System
Mammalian herbivores shape the structure and function of many nutrient-limited or low-productive terrestrial ecosystems through modification of plant communities and plant–soil feedbacks. In the tundra biome, mammalian herbivores may both accelerate and decelerate plant biomass growth, microbial act...
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10037/24977 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-018-0307-4 |
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ftunivtroemsoe:oai:munin.uit.no:10037/24977 2023-05-15T18:40:07+02:00 Herbivore Effects on Ecosystem Process Rates in a Low-Productive System Tuomi, Maria Wilhelmina Stark, Sari Hoset, Katrine Skamfer Väisänen, Maria Oksanen, Lauri Murguzur, Francisco Javier Ancin Tuomisto, Hanna Dahlgren, Jonas Bråthen, Kari Anne 2018-10-17 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/24977 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-018-0307-4 eng eng Springer Ecosystems https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10021-018-0307-4.pdf Tuomi, M., Stark, S., Hoset, K.S. et al. Herbivore Effects on Ecosystem Process Rates in a Low-Productive System. Ecosystems 22, 827–843 (2019) FRIDAID 1652255 doi:10.1007/s10021-018-0307-4 1432-9840 1435-0629 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/24977 openAccess Copyright 2018 The Author(s) Journal article Tidsskriftartikkel Peer reviewed publishedVersion 2018 ftunivtroemsoe https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-018-0307-4 2022-05-04T22:58:43Z Mammalian herbivores shape the structure and function of many nutrient-limited or low-productive terrestrial ecosystems through modification of plant communities and plant–soil feedbacks. In the tundra biome, mammalian herbivores may both accelerate and decelerate plant biomass growth, microbial activity and nutrient cycling, that is, ecosystem process rates. Selective foraging and associated declines of palatable species are known to be major drivers of plant–soil feedbacks. However, declines in dominant plants of low palatability often linked with high herbivore densities may also modify ecosystem process rates, yet have received little attention. We present data from an island experiment with a 10-year vole density manipulation, to test the hypothesis that herbivores accelerate process rates by decreasing the relative abundance of poorly palatable plants to palatable ones. We measured plant species abundances and community composition, nitrogen contents of green plant tissues and multiple soil and litter variables under high and low vole density. Corroborating our hypothesis, periodic high vole density increased ecosystem process rates in lowproductive tundra. High vole density was associated with both increasing relative abundance of palatable forbs over unpalatable evergreen dwarf shrubs and higher plant N content both at species and at community level. Changes in plant community composition, in turn, explained variation in microbial activity in litter and soil inorganic nutrient availability. We propose a new conceptual model with two distinct vole–plant–soil feedback pathways. Voles may drive local plant–soil feedbacks that either increase or decrease ecosystem process rates, in turn promoting heterogeneity in vegetation and soils across tundra landscapes. Article in Journal/Newspaper Tundra University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive Ecosystems 22 4 827 843 |
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Open Polar |
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University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive |
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ftunivtroemsoe |
language |
English |
description |
Mammalian herbivores shape the structure and function of many nutrient-limited or low-productive terrestrial ecosystems through modification of plant communities and plant–soil feedbacks. In the tundra biome, mammalian herbivores may both accelerate and decelerate plant biomass growth, microbial activity and nutrient cycling, that is, ecosystem process rates. Selective foraging and associated declines of palatable species are known to be major drivers of plant–soil feedbacks. However, declines in dominant plants of low palatability often linked with high herbivore densities may also modify ecosystem process rates, yet have received little attention. We present data from an island experiment with a 10-year vole density manipulation, to test the hypothesis that herbivores accelerate process rates by decreasing the relative abundance of poorly palatable plants to palatable ones. We measured plant species abundances and community composition, nitrogen contents of green plant tissues and multiple soil and litter variables under high and low vole density. Corroborating our hypothesis, periodic high vole density increased ecosystem process rates in lowproductive tundra. High vole density was associated with both increasing relative abundance of palatable forbs over unpalatable evergreen dwarf shrubs and higher plant N content both at species and at community level. Changes in plant community composition, in turn, explained variation in microbial activity in litter and soil inorganic nutrient availability. We propose a new conceptual model with two distinct vole–plant–soil feedback pathways. Voles may drive local plant–soil feedbacks that either increase or decrease ecosystem process rates, in turn promoting heterogeneity in vegetation and soils across tundra landscapes. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Tuomi, Maria Wilhelmina Stark, Sari Hoset, Katrine Skamfer Väisänen, Maria Oksanen, Lauri Murguzur, Francisco Javier Ancin Tuomisto, Hanna Dahlgren, Jonas Bråthen, Kari Anne |
spellingShingle |
Tuomi, Maria Wilhelmina Stark, Sari Hoset, Katrine Skamfer Väisänen, Maria Oksanen, Lauri Murguzur, Francisco Javier Ancin Tuomisto, Hanna Dahlgren, Jonas Bråthen, Kari Anne Herbivore Effects on Ecosystem Process Rates in a Low-Productive System |
author_facet |
Tuomi, Maria Wilhelmina Stark, Sari Hoset, Katrine Skamfer Väisänen, Maria Oksanen, Lauri Murguzur, Francisco Javier Ancin Tuomisto, Hanna Dahlgren, Jonas Bråthen, Kari Anne |
author_sort |
Tuomi, Maria Wilhelmina |
title |
Herbivore Effects on Ecosystem Process Rates in a Low-Productive System |
title_short |
Herbivore Effects on Ecosystem Process Rates in a Low-Productive System |
title_full |
Herbivore Effects on Ecosystem Process Rates in a Low-Productive System |
title_fullStr |
Herbivore Effects on Ecosystem Process Rates in a Low-Productive System |
title_full_unstemmed |
Herbivore Effects on Ecosystem Process Rates in a Low-Productive System |
title_sort |
herbivore effects on ecosystem process rates in a low-productive system |
publisher |
Springer |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/24977 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-018-0307-4 |
genre |
Tundra |
genre_facet |
Tundra |
op_relation |
Ecosystems https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10021-018-0307-4.pdf Tuomi, M., Stark, S., Hoset, K.S. et al. Herbivore Effects on Ecosystem Process Rates in a Low-Productive System. Ecosystems 22, 827–843 (2019) FRIDAID 1652255 doi:10.1007/s10021-018-0307-4 1432-9840 1435-0629 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/24977 |
op_rights |
openAccess Copyright 2018 The Author(s) |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-018-0307-4 |
container_title |
Ecosystems |
container_volume |
22 |
container_issue |
4 |
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827 |
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843 |
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1766229290195615744 |