The effect of shredder community composition on the production and quality of fine particulate organic matter

Patrick, Christopher J.

doi:10.1899/12-090.1

Cited by 18 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Our results suggest aquatic egesta more likely serve as sinks rather than sources of dissolved inorganic nutrients and serve as long‐term stores of organic nutrients. We provide robust support for previous findings and our first predictions (P1 and P2) regarding diet and taxonomic variation in egesta nutrient content (Patrick ; Hood et al . ; Halvorson et al .…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…Animal taxonomic variation and background nutrient availability should both be further studied as drivers of diverse stoichiometry and properties of FPOM in streams (Tank et al . ; Patrick ; Bundschuh & McKie ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…). For example, the balance between nutrient mineralization and immobilization will depend on variable nutrient composition, particle size and chemical binding of egesta across source animal species and diets (Joyce, Warren & Wotton ; Patrick ; Fernandes et al . ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unfortunately, most studies of egesta nutrient dynamics have focused on single animal source species, especially the shredder Gammarus spp. (but see Patrick ), rarely track dynamics of multiple elements [carbon (C), N and P] and address only short‐term leaching, constraining understanding of potential diverse, extended roles in aquatic nutrient cycles. Long‐term study is crucial because egesta accumulate in depositional areas and slowly decompose over months to years (Joyce, Warren & Wotton ; Joyce & Wotton ; Yoshimura et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Long‐term stoichiometry and fates highlight animal egestion as nutrient repackaging, not recycling, in aquatic ecosystems

2017

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Summary Animal defecation, or egestion, is a pronounced transformation of organic matter in many ecosystems. However, because egesta have been presumed recalcitrant and low nutrient, their significance and variability as an animal nutrient flux in aquatic settings – especially relative to mineralization via excretion – are poorly known. We compared carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) dynamics over short‐ to long‐term (up to 107 days) microbial decomposition of egesta from the aquatic shredders Allocapnia spp., Lirceus spp. and Tipula spp. fed low‐ or high‐P content Platanus occidentalis litter to investigate roles of egesta in aquatic nutrient dynamics. Tipula produced N and P deplete egesta of higher N : P compared to Lirceus and Allocapnia, and high‐P diets increased egesta P content compared to low‐P diets. Despite measurable C losses to decomposition, these differences in nutrient content persisted through decomposition, showing diet and species control both immediate and long‐term properties of egested particles. Egesta switched between uptake and release of dissolved phosphorus and ammonium during decomposition, and exhibited consistent net N uptake as nitrate–nitrite. Across species and diets, lower N : P egesta tended to exhibit greater uptake of dissolved inorganic N, suggesting P enrichment of egesta drove stronger dissolved N demand by decomposer microbes. Shredder egesta exhibit stable nutrient contents long term and, counter to assumptions that they are negligible or minor net sources, can be strong, extended sinks of dissolved inorganic nutrients. Future studies should consider contrasts between animal nutrient fluxes as excretion, which facilitates nutrient recycling via mineralization, vs. egestion, which slows nutrient recycling via organic nutrient repackaging and can create sinks of dissolved nutrients. A http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.12875/suppinfo is available for this article.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Long‐term stoichiometry and fates highlight animal egestion as nutrient repackaging, not recycling, in aquatic ecosystems

2017

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“…Second, foraging habits can alter feeding efficiency as well as competitive or facilitative relationships and, in turn, affect detrital consumption (McKie et al. , Patrick ). Lastly, thermal and rheophilic preferences reflect the ability for taxa to occupy and persist in available habitat and thereby affect ecosystem functioning.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decomposition of terrestrial resource subsidies in headwater streams: Does consumer diversity matter?

et al. 2017

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. 2017. Decomposition of terrestrial resource subsidies in headwater streams: Does consumer diversity matter? Ecosphere 8(6):e01868. 10. 1002/ecs2.1868 Abstract. Resource subsidies and biodiversity are essential for maintaining community structure and ecosystem functioning, but the relative importance of consumer diversity and resource characteristics to decomposition remains unclear. Forested headwater streams are detritus-based systems, dependent on leaf litter inputs from adjacent riparian ecosystems, and decomposition of these resources is an important ecosystem function. Here, we examined the effects of consumer community diversity on leaf decomposition in a reciprocal transplant experiment. We asked (1) whether stream consumer communities are adapted to local resources and (2) how functional trait diversity among communities affects the leaf decomposition process. We did not find evidence that communities were adapted to locally derived resource subsidies. Instead, we found that consumer biomass and functional trait diversity as well as resource characteristics were the primary biotic drivers of decomposition. Consumer biomass was stimulated by specific resource subsidies, leading to direct and indirect effects of resource subsidies on ecosystem functioning. Contrary to current theory, we show that decomposition was higher with decreased detritivore functional diversity, suggesting dominant traits encompassing a specific niche increased decomposition. We also show that top-down, consumer diversity effects can be equal in magnitude to the bottom-up effects of resource characteristics during the decomposition process. Our research illustrates the importance of considering multiple biotic and abiotic drivers interacting via multiple pathways to affect a crucial ecosystem function.

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Plant diversity loss affects stream ecosystem multifunctionality

López‐Rojo

Pozo

Pérez

et al. 2019

Ecology

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Biodiversity loss is occurring globally at unprecedented rates, altering the functioning of the Earth's ecosystems. Multiple processes are often key components of ecosystem functioning, but it is unclear how biodiversity loss affects ecosystem multifunctionality (i.e., the ability of ecosystems to maintain multiple processes simultaneously). This is particularly true for some ecosystem types such as streams, which have been understudied, despite their key role in global biogeochemical cycles and their serious impairment by the widespread loss of riparian vegetation as a result of global change. Using a microcosm experiment, we tested whether losing riparian plant diversity affected stream multifunctionality, taking into account nine key processes related to litter decomposition, animal biomass production, and nutrient cycling, and simulating plant species loss from four to one in the presence or absence of litterfeeding detritivores. Multifunctionality increased with plant diversity in the presence of detritivores and decreased in their absence, evidencing a key role of detritivores in biodiversity-ecosystem-functioning (BEF) relationships. Moreover, by exploring effects of plant diversity on each process individually we were able to reveal potential mechanisms underlying BEF relationships; for example, effects of plant diversity on nutrient cycling occurred at least partly via indirect nutrient transfer, and were possibly accompanied by changes in microbial stoichiometry. Such mechanisms were unnoticeable when examining multifunctionality metrics, suggesting that individual processes provide crucial information to understand how stream ecosystem functioning is impaired by biodiversity loss.

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The effect of shredder community composition on the production and quality of fine particulate organic matter

Cited by 18 publications

References 54 publications

Long‐term stoichiometry and fates highlight animal egestion as nutrient repackaging, not recycling, in aquatic ecosystems

Long‐term stoichiometry and fates highlight animal egestion as nutrient repackaging, not recycling, in aquatic ecosystems

Decomposition of terrestrial resource subsidies in headwater streams: Does consumer diversity matter?

Plant diversity loss affects stream ecosystem multifunctionality

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