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Nessel MP, Konnovitch T, Romero GQ, González AL. Nitrogen and phosphorus enrichment cause declines in invertebrate populations: a global meta-analysis. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2021; 96:2617-2637. [PMID: 34173704 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12771] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2020] [Revised: 06/15/2021] [Accepted: 06/17/2021] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
Human-driven changes in nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) inputs are modifying biogeochemical cycles and the trophic state of many habitats worldwide. These alterations are predicted to continue to increase, with the potential for a wide range of impacts on invertebrates, key players in ecosystem-level processes. Here, we present a meta-analysis of 1679 cases from 207 studies reporting the effects of N, P, and combined N + P enrichment on the abundance, biomass, and richness of aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates. Nitrogen and phosphorus additions decreased invertebrate abundance in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, with stronger impacts under combined N + P additions. Likewise, N and N + P additions had stronger negative impacts on the abundance of tropical than temperate invertebrates. Overall, the effects of nutrient enrichment did not differ significantly among major invertebrate taxonomic groups, suggesting that changes in biogeochemical cycles are a pervasive threat to invertebrate populations across ecosystems. The effects of N and P additions differed significantly among invertebrate trophic groups but N + P addition had a consistent negative effect on invertebrates. Nutrient additions had weaker or inconclusive impacts on invertebrate biomass and richness, possibly due to the low number of case studies for these community responses. Our findings suggest that N and P enrichment affect invertebrate community structure mainly by decreasing invertebrate abundance, and these effects are dependent on the habitat and trophic identity of the invertebrates. These results highlight the important effects of human-driven nutrient enrichment on ecological systems and suggest a potential driver for the global invertebrate decline documented in recent years.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark P Nessel
- Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, Rutgers University, 201 S. Broadway, Camden, NJ, 08103, U.S.A
| | - Theresa Konnovitch
- Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, Rutgers University, 201 S. Broadway, Camden, NJ, 08103, U.S.A.,Biology Department, La Salle University, 1900 W Olney Ave, Philadelphia, PA, 19141, U.S.A
| | - Gustavo Q Romero
- Department of Animal Biology, Institute of Biology, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), CP 6109, Campinas, São Paulo, 13083-862, Brazil
| | - Angélica L González
- Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, Rutgers University, 201 S. Broadway, Camden, NJ, 08103, U.S.A.,Biology Department, Rutgers University, Science Building, 315 Penn Street, Camden, NJ, 08102, U.S.A
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Grazing resistance and poor food quality of a widespread mixotroph impair zooplankton secondary production. Oecologia 2020; 193:489-502. [PMID: 32504109 PMCID: PMC7320944 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-020-04677-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2019] [Accepted: 05/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Abstract
Growing evidence suggests that global climate change promotes the dominance of mixotrophic algae especially in oligotrophic aquatic ecosystems. While theory predicts that mixotrophy increases trophic transfer efficiency in aquatic food webs, deleterious effects of some mixotrophs on consumers have also been reported. Here, using a widespread mixotrophic algal genus Dinobryon, we aimed to quantify how colonial taxa contribute to secondary production in lakes. We, therefore, studied the dietary effects of Dinobryon divergens on Cladocera (Daphnia longispina) and Copepoda (Eudiaptomus gracilis), representing two main taxonomic and functional groups of zooplankton. In feeding experiments, we showed that Dinobryon was largely grazing resistant and even inhibited the uptake of the high-quality reference food in Daphnia. Eudiaptomus could to some extent compensate with selective feeding, but a negative long-term food quality effect was also evident. Besides, Eudiaptomus was more sensitive to the pure diet of Dinobryon than Daphnia. Low lipid content and high C:P elemental ratio further supported the low nutritional value of the mixotroph. In a stable isotope approach analysing a natural plankton community, we found further evidence that carbon of Dinobryon was not conveyed efficiently to zooplankton. Our results show that the increasing dominance of colonial mixotrophs can result in reduced dietary energy transfer to consumers at higher trophic levels. In a wider perspective, global climate change favours the dominance of some detrimental mixotrophic algae which may constrain pelagic trophic transfer efficiency in oligotrophic systems, similarly to cyanobacteria in eutrophic lakes.
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Meunier CL, Gundale MJ, Sánchez IS, Liess A. Impact of nitrogen deposition on forest and lake food webs in nitrogen-limited environments. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2016; 22:164-79. [PMID: 25953197 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.12967] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2014] [Revised: 03/26/2015] [Accepted: 04/29/2015] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
Increased reactive nitrogen (Nr ) deposition has raised the amount of N available to organisms and has greatly altered the transfer of energy through food webs, with major consequences for trophic dynamics. The aim of this review was to: (i) clarify the direct and indirect effects of Nr deposition on forest and lake food webs in N-limited biomes, (ii) compare and contrast how aquatic and terrestrial systems respond to increased Nr deposition, and (iii) identify how the nutrient pathways within and between ecosystems change in response to Nr deposition. We present that Nr deposition releases primary producers from N limitation in both forest and lake ecosystems and raises plants' N content which in turn benefits herbivores with high N requirements. Such trophic effects are coupled with a general decrease in biodiversity caused by different N-use efficiencies; slow-growing species with low rates of N turnover are replaced by fast-growing species with high rates of N turnover. In contrast, Nr deposition diminishes below-ground production in forests, due to a range of mechanisms that reduce microbial biomass, and decreases lake benthic productivity by switching herbivore growth from N to phosphorus (P) limitation, and by intensifying P limitation of benthic fish. The flow of nutrients between ecosystems is expected to change with increasing Nr deposition. Due to higher litter production and more intense precipitation, more terrestrial matter will enter lakes. This will benefit bacteria and will in turn boost the microbial food web. Additionally, Nr deposition promotes emergent insects, which subsidize the terrestrial food web as prey for insectivores or by dying and decomposing on land. So far, most studies have examined Nr -deposition effects on the food web base, whereas our review highlights that changes at the base of food webs substantially impact higher trophic levels and therefore food web structure and functioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cédric L Meunier
- Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Umeå University, 901 87, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Michael J Gundale
- Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, 901 83, Sweden
| | - Irene S Sánchez
- Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Umeå University, 901 87, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Antonia Liess
- Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Umeå University, 901 87, Umeå, Sweden
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Faithfull CL, Mathisen P, Wenzel A, Bergström AK, Vrede T. Food web efficiency differs between humic and clear water lake communities in response to nutrients and light. Oecologia 2014; 177:823-835. [DOI: 10.1007/s00442-014-3132-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2014] [Accepted: 10/20/2014] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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