The detritus-based microbial-invertebrate food web contributes disproportionately to carbon and nitrogen cycling in the Arctic

Koltz, Amanda M.; Asmus, Ashley L.; Gough, Laura; Pressler, Yamina; Moore, John C.

doi:10.1007/s00300-017-2201-5

Cited by 47 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 83 publications

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“…We collected adult mosquitoes from multiple locations in West Greenland tundra, measured size distributions, and dissected the abdomens of female mosquitoes to determine the proportion that were gravid and the number of eggs per gravid female. Although species diversity of Arctic mosquitoes can be low, high abundances of the species that are present (Jenkins 1958) enable their role as pests (Helle and Tarvainen 1984, Gaston et al 2002, Hagemoen and Reimers 2002, Witter et al 2012, in food webs (Fang 2010, Koltz et al 2017, and sometimes even as pollinators (Urbanowicz et al 2017). Collectively, the data allowed us to estimate spatial heterogeneity in population growth rates, that is, how many adult female mosquitoes in generation t + 1 are produced by an average female in generation t, under a variety of scenarios representing spatial variability in adult reproduction and survival of immature mosquitoes in Arctic ponds, which was previously found to be sensitive to temperature (Culler et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial heterogeneity in the abundance and fecundity of Arctic mosquitoes

2018

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Citation: Culler, L. E., M. P. Ayres, and R. A. Virginia. 2018. Spatial heterogeneity in the abundance and fecundity of Arctic mosquitoes. Ecosphere 9(8):Abstract. The abundance of mosquitoes is strongly influenced by biotic and abiotic factors that act on the immature (aquatic) and adult (terrestrial) life stages. Rapid changes in land use and climate, which impact aquatic and terrestrial mosquito habitat, necessitate studying the ecological mechanisms, and their interplay with the changing environment, that affect mosquito abundance. These data are crucial for anticipating how environmental change will impact their roles as pests, disease vectors, and in food webs. We studied a population of Arctic mosquitoes (Aedes nigripes, Diptera: Culicidae) in western Greenland, a region experiencing rapid environmental change, to quantify spatial variation in adult abundance and reproduction. Using sweep nets, we collected about sevenfold more mosquitoes within the town of Kangerlussuaq and within a low-elevation tundra valley compared to three other tundra locations. Dissections of adult female mosquitoes revealed that only 17% were gravid overall, with a range of 7-43% among sites. If gravid, mosquitoes matured an average of 60 eggs per individual-more in larger females. We found no indication of autogenous egg development. Analyses using our field data indicated that spatial variation in adult fecundity and survival of immatures could each account for a 10-fold range in the per capita growth of mosquito populations. The availability of vertebrate hosts and aquatic habitat is changing in many parts of the Arctic and can be expected to influence Arctic mosquito abundance. In the Arctic, and elsewhere, life-history data from natural populations of mosquitoes will significantly aid in understanding controls on the abundance of these globally ubiquitous insects.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial heterogeneity in the abundance and fecundity of Arctic mosquitoes

2018

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“…Biological feedback mechanisms from, e.g., insect herbivores could play an important role in this respect (Phoenix and Bjerke 2016;Lund et al 2017). Barrio et al (2017) and Koltz et al (2018a), despite having vastly different research approaches, reached similar conclusions about low impacts of invertebrate herbivory, specifically direct consumption of live plant biomass, on plant damage and nutrient cycling. Barrio et al (2017) assessed invertebrate herbivory on over 30,000 birch leaves (Betula sp.)…”

Section: Biotic Interactions and Ecosystem Effectsmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…One set of papers (Docherty et al 2018;Høye et al 2018;Bowden et al 2018;Convey et al 2018;Hein et al 2018;Turney et al 2018) is broadly focused on characterizing how the abundance and life-history traits of tundra arthropods vary in relation to spatial and temporal environmental variation. The second set (Barrio et al 2017;Koltz et al 2018a;Sanchez-Ruiz et al 2018;Urbanowicz et al 2017;Müllerová et al 2018) is focused on characterizing the ecological roles of tundra arthropods in food webs and ecosystems. We have organized the synopsis around these two broad themes.…”

Section: Network For Arthropods Of the Tundra (Neat)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Invertebrate damage was found on 11.2% of leaves but the total area damaged was only 1.4%. Koltz et al (2018a) collected samples of 33 functional feeding groups of mostly arthropods from soil, surface, and canopy habitats at a moist acidic tundra site in Alaska. From their density estimates they modelled biomass of each group to parameterize an energetic food web framework, which ultimately showed that only 0.06% of carbon processed in this food web comes from the consumption of live plant biomass.…”

Section: Biotic Interactions and Ecosystem Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As such, they were able to discover that herbivory rates were higher in places or during years with higher summer temperatures. The energetic food web framework provided in Koltz et al (2018a) could be used to model how nutrient cycling would change in response to this increase in herbivory, or to invertebrate herbivore outbreaks, which are not uncommon in Subarctic and tundra ecosystems (Jepsen et al 2008;Post and Pedersen 2008). It would also be useful to parameterize the energetics model with biomass estimates from standardized sampling protocols from sites with different environmental conditions to test how nutrient cycling varies across space and time.…”

Section: Biotic Interactions and Ecosystem Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tundra arthropods provide key insights into ecological responses to environmental change

Høye

Culler

2018

Polar Biol

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Arthropods perform critically important functions in food webs and ecosystems and are highly sensitive to the effects of environmental change. Despite their importance, the knowledge gaps in arthropod ecology are substantial. This is particularly problematic in Earth's polar and alpine regions, where tundra ecosystems are responding rapidly to climate change. Species diversity is lower in these regions versus temperate and tropical regions, but (1) we lack baseline and long-term data about the distributions and abundances of arthropods and their relationships to abiotic variation and (2) the roles of arthropods in these ecosystems are far from fully described. In recognition of the need for increased tundra arthropod research activity, a group of international scientists formed the Network for Arthropods of the Tundra (NeAT). In the past 3 years, this academic network has brought together entomologists from research institutions around the world to revitalize and coordinate the study of tundra arthropods. This special issue on the ecology of tundra arthropods represents a tangible example of this increased momentum. The papers in the special issue highlight recent advances in understanding the relationships between arthropod communities and abiotic variation in tundra ecosystems and clarify the roles that arthropods play in ecosystems. They collectively demonstrate the utility of tundra arthropods as a model system for testing general ecological theory about how species respond to environmental variation. We hope this special issue with the insights it provides and the new frontiers it outlines, together with NeAT, will leverage further momentum to the interest in, and study of the ecology of tundra arthropods in the years to come.

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Limited effects of early snowmelt on plants, decomposers, and soil nutrients in Arctic tundra soils

Darrouzet‐Nardi

Steltzer

Sullivan

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

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In addition to warming temperatures, Arctic ecosystems are responding to climate change with earlier snowmelt and soil thaw. Earlier snowmelt has been examined infrequently in field experiments, and we lack a comprehensive look at belowground responses of the soil biogeochemical system that includes plant roots, decomposers, and soil nutrients. We experimentally advanced the timing of snowmelt in factorial combination with an open‐top chamber warming treatment over a 3‐year period and evaluated the responses of decomposers and nutrient cycling processes. We tested two alternative hypotheses: (a) Early snowmelt and warming advance the timing of root growth and nutrient uptake, altering the timing of microbial and invertebrate activity and key nutrient cycling events; and (b) loss of insulating snow cover damages plants, leading to reductions in root growth and altered biological activity. During the 3 years of our study (2010–2012), we advanced snowmelt by 4, 15, and 10 days, respectively. Despite advancing aboveground plant phenology, particularly in the year with the warmest early‐season temperatures (2012), belowground effects were primarily seen only on the first sampling date of the season or restricted to particular years or soil type. Overall, consistent and substantial responses to early snowmelt were not observed, counter to both of our hypotheses. The data on soil physical conditions, as well interannual comparisons of our results, suggest that this limited response was because of the earlier date of snowmelt that did not coincide with substantially warmer air and soil temperatures as they might in response to a natural climate event. We conclude that the interaction of snowmelt timing with soil temperatures is important to how the ecosystem will respond, but that 1‐ to 2‐week changes in timing of snowmelt alone are not enough to drive season‐long changes in soil microbial and nutrient cycling processes.

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The detritus-based microbial-invertebrate food web contributes disproportionately to carbon and nitrogen cycling in the Arctic

Cited by 47 publications

References 83 publications

Spatial heterogeneity in the abundance and fecundity of Arctic mosquitoes

Spatial heterogeneity in the abundance and fecundity of Arctic mosquitoes

Tundra arthropods provide key insights into ecological responses to environmental change

Limited effects of early snowmelt on plants, decomposers, and soil nutrients in Arctic tundra soils

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