Multi-elemental consumer-driven nutrient cycling when predators feed on different prey

Predators play a fundamental role in cycling nutrients through ecosystems, by altering the amount and compositions of waste products and uneaten prey parts available to decomposers. Different prey can vary in their elemental content and the deposition of elements in predator waste can vary depending on which elements are preferentially retained versus eliminated as waste products. We tested how feeding on different prey (caterpillars, cockroaches, crickets, and flies) affected the concentrations of 23 elements in excreta deposited by wolf spider across 2 seasons (spring versus fall). Spider excreta had lower concentrations of carbon and higher concentrations of many other elements (Al, B, Ba, K, Li, P, S, Si, and Sr) compared to prey remains and whole prey carcasses. In addition, elemental concentrations in unconsumed whole prey carcasses and prey remains varied between prey species, while spider excreta had the lowest variation among prey species. Finally, the concentrations of elements deposited differed between seasons, with wolf spiders excreting greater concentrations of Fe, Mg, Mn, Mo, S, and V in the fall. However, in the spring, spiders excreted higher concentrations of Al, B, Ba, Ca, Cd, Cu, K, P, Na, Si, Sr, and Zn. These results highlight that prey identity and environmental variation can determine the role that predators play in regulating the cycling of many elements. A better understanding of these convoluted nutritional interactions is critical to disentangle specific consumer-driven effects on ecosystem function.

The role of feeding strategy in the tolerance of a terrestrial salamander (Plethodon cinereus) to biogeochemical changes in northern hardwood forests

We investigated whether the trophic ecology of an apex predator is influenced by ecosystem-level nutrient depletion. The feeding behavior and nutrient assimilation of a terrestrial salamander, Eastern Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon cinereus (Green, 1818)), was surveyed along a gradient of forest biogeochemistry. Recent studies have documented populations of these salamanders in forests with low-pH soils that were long thought to be fatal. One mechanism that may enable P. cinereus to tolerate acid-impaired habitats is its generalist life history. We sampled diet, invertebrate prey abundance, and tissue composition of P. cinereus from sites that range in calcium availability and soil pH in northern forests of North America. We found that P. cinereus consistently exhibited a generalist feeding strategy, having diverse diets closely representing resource availability. Prey abundances were unrelated to the biogeochemical gradient (excluding gastropods), indicating relatively intact food webs. Although P. cinereus at the two most acid-impaired sites consumed more prey, overall trophic strategies were consistent across the gradient. Salamander tissue composition was unrelated to variation in forest biogeochemistry, although manganese levels were elevated in the most acid-impaired forests. We suggest that a generalist feeding strategy, combined with diverse and compositionally stable food webs, facilitates tolerance by this abundant predator of the challenges imposed by acid-impaired habitats.

Paleobiology of the Arthropod Cuticle

To a large extent, a chitinous external cuticle is the distinguishing feature of arthropods (Barnes, 1980). Many of the other features considered characteristic of arthropods, such as growth by molting or the jointed appendages, are either directly or indirectly tied to the possession of the cuticle (Cisne, 1974; Neville, 1975; Grasshoff, 1981).

Ecosystem carbon exchange in response to locust outbreaks in a temperate steppe

It is predicted that locust outbreaks will occur more frequently under future climate change scenarios, with consequent effects on ecological goods and services. A field manipulative experiment was conducted to examine the responses of gross ecosystem productivity (GEP), net ecosystem carbon dioxide (CO2) exchange (NEE), ecosystem respiration (ER), and soil respiration (SR) to locust outbreaks in a temperate steppe of northern China from 2010 to 2011. Two processes related to locust outbreaks, natural locust feeding and carcass deposition, were mimicked by clipping 80 % of aboveground biomass and adding locust carcasses, respectively. Ecosystem carbon (C) exchange (i.e., GEP, NEE, ER, and SR) was suppressed by locust feeding in 2010, but stimulated by locust carcass deposition in both years (except SR in 2011). Experimental locust outbreaks (i.e., clipping plus locust carcass addition) decreased GEP and NEE in 2010 whereas they increased GEP, NEE, and ER in 2011, leading to neutral changes in GEP, NEE, and SR across the 2 years. The responses of ecosystem C exchange could have been due to the changes in soil ammonium nitrogen, community cover, and aboveground net primary productivity. Our findings of the transient and neutral changes in ecosystem C cycling under locust outbreaks highlight the importance of resistance, resilience, and stability of the temperate steppe in maintaining reliable ecosystem services, and facilitate the projections of ecosystem functioning in response to natural disturbance and climate change.

Insects as drivers of ecosystem processes

Insects and other small invertebrates are ubiquitous components of all terrestrial and freshwater food webs, but their cumulative biomass is small relative to plants and microbes. As a result, it is often assumed that these animals make relatively minor contributions to ecosystem processes. Despite their small sizes and cumulative biomass, we suggest that these animals may commonly have important effects on carbon and nutrient cycling by modulating the quality and quantity of resources that enter the detrital food web, with consequences at the ecosystem level. These effects can occur through multiple pathways, including direct inputs of insect biomass, the transformation of detrital biomass, and the indirect effects of predators on herbivores and detritivores. In virtually all cases, the ecosystem effects of these pathways are ultimately mediated through interactions with plants and soil microbes. Merging our understanding of insect, plant and microbial ecology will offer a valuable way to better integrate community-level interactions with ecosystem processes.

Plant science in forest canopies--the first 30 years of advances and challenges (1980-2010)

As an emerging subdiscipline of forest biology, canopy science has undergone a transition from observational, 'oh-wow' exploration to a more hypothesis-driven, experimental arena for rigorous field biology. Although efforts to explore forest canopies have occurred for a century, the new tools to access the treetops during the past 30 yr facilitated not only widespread exploration but also new discoveries about the complexity and global effects of this so-called 'eighth continent of the planet'. The forest canopy is the engine that fixes solar energy in carbohydrates to power interactions among forest components that, in turn, affect regional and global climate, biogeochemical cycling and ecosystem services. Climate change, biodiversity conservation, fresh water conservation, ecosystem productivity, and carbon sequestration represent important components of forest research that benefit from access to the canopy for rigorous study. Although some canopy variables can be observed or measured from the ground, vertical and horizontal variation in environmental conditions and processes within the canopy that determine canopy-atmosphere and canopy-forest floor interactions are best measured within the canopy. Canopy science has matured into a cutting-edge subset of forest research, and the treetops also serve as social and economic drivers for sustainable communities, fostering science education and ecotourism. This interdisciplinary context of forest canopy science has inspired innovative new approaches to environmental stewardship, involving diverse stakeholders.

The ecological significance of tallgrass prairie arthropods

Tallgrass prairie (TGP) arthropods are diverse and abundant, yet they remain poorly documented and there is still much to be learned regarding their ecological roles. Fire and grazing interact in complex ways in TGP, resulting in a shifting mosaic of resource quantity and quality for primary consumers. Accordingly, the impacts of arthropod herbivores and detritivores are expected to vary spatially and temporally. Herbivores generally do not control primary production. Rather, groups such as grasshoppers have subtle effects on plant communities, and their most significant impacts are often on forbs, which represent the bulk of plant diversity in TGP. Belowground herbivores and detritivores influence root dynamics and rhizosphere nutrient cycling, and above- and belowground groups interact through plant responses and detrital pathways. Large-bodied taxa, such as cicadas, can also redistribute significant quantities of materials during adult emergences. Predatory arthropods are the least studied in terms of ecological significance, but there is evidence that top-down processes are important in TGP.

Interactions between a detrital resource pulse and a detritivore community

Detritivore communities influence the decomposition of detrital resources in virtually all natural systems. Conversely, detrital resources can also have considerable bottom-up effects on detritivore communities. While many investigations have examined detritivory and decomposition processes, few have considered interactions between detritivores and detritus as concurrent processes in the same system, or in the context of natural detrital pulses. In many systems, resource pulses contribute substantial detrital inputs to belowground systems. These detrital pulses may influence interactions between the detritivore community and detrital decomposition. I conducted field experiments to investigate interactions between detrital resource pulses of periodical cicada (Magicicada spp.) carcasses and scavenging detritivorous macroarthropods. Cicada litterfall pulses influenced several broad groups in the macroarthropod community, including relatively specialized necrophilous taxa and relatively generalized detritivores, omnivores and predators. Conversely, detritivore activity increased the rate of cicada carcass decomposition by 4,082% compared to caged control carcasses. These results suggest that interactions between pulses of cicada detritus and the detritivore community influence both the persistence of ephemeral detrital resources, and the distribution, abundance and behavior of detritivore populations.

Toxicity bioassays for ecological risk assessment in arid and semiarid ecosystems

Substantial tracts of land in the southwestern and western U.S. are undergoing or will require ERA. Toxicity bioassays employed in baseline ERAs are, for the most part. representative of mesic systems, and highly standardized test species (e.g., lettuce, earthworm) are generally not relevant to arid system toxicity testing. Conversely, relevant test species are often poorly characterized with regard to toxicant sensitivity and culture conditions. The applicability of toxicity bioassays to ecological risk assessment in arid and semiarid ecosystems was reviewed for bacteria and fungi, plants, terrestrial invertebrates, and terrestrial vertebrates. Bacteria and fungi are critical to soil processes, and understanding their ecology is important to understanding the ecological relevance of bioassays targeting either group. Terrestrial bacteria require a water film around soil particles to be active, while soil fungi can remain active in extremely dry soils. It is therefore expected that fungi will be of greater importance to arid and semiarid systems (Whitford 1989). If microbial processes are to be measured in soils of arid environments, it is recommended that bioassays target fungi. Regardless of the taxa studied, problems are associated with the standardization and interpretability of microbial tests, and regulatory acceptance may hinder widespread incorporation of microbial toxicity bioassays in arid system risk assessments. Plant toxicity bioassays are gaining recognition as sensitive indicators of soil conditions because they can provide a cost-effective and relatively rapid assessment of soil quality for both pre- and postremediation efforts. Phytotoxicity evaluations commonly target germination because environmental stressors have the greatest potential for exerting adverse effects in the early stages of growth. In arid systems, seeds respond rapidly to precipitation events, and it is typically after germination has occurred that plants must cope with water stress. Consequently, seedling emergence studies should be conducted under nonlimiting moisture conditions characteristic of mesic plant testing. Further ecological realism can be incorporated into advanced growth stages by creating moisture conditions representative of the arid system study site. Although the choices of suitable plant species for assessing mesic system soils are numerous, the choices for arid system soils are limited. Guidance is provided for evaluating plant species with regard to their suitability for serving as representative arid system flora. Terrestrial invertebrates can survive and flourish in extremely dry conditions. They play key roles in ecosystem functioning in arid environments. Perhaps the biggest drawback to using terrestrial invertebrates for toxicity bioassays involves uncertainties associated with choosing appropriate test species. Several examples of standard species exist for mesic soils (e.g., the earthworm Eisenia foetida and the collembolan Folsomia candida), whereas no analogous organisms are available for testing arid and semiarid soils. The aid of an expert taxonomist and some basic research are prerequisite to using ecologically relevant invertebrates. The use of birds for ecotoxicity testing in arid and semiarid environments is not recommended. On the other hand, mammals, especially rodents, are well represented in arid ecosystems. Much of the ecotoxicity testing performed on rodents is generally applicable to arid-adapted species; few demonstrations of rodent ecotoxicity testing for dry environments exist. Relative to other organisms discussed, such as soil invertebrates, the use of mammals in toxicity bioassays faces several obstacles. Terrestrial plants and soil invertebrates appear to be the most appropriate and feasible organisms for ecotoxicity testing in arid and semiarid environments. Potentially relevant test species for arid system testing are often poorly characterized with regard to toxicant sensitivity and culture conditions. Table 6 presents examples of standard and nonstandard species with these considerations in mind, and the best estimate of regulatory acceptance for each of the organisms is suggested. If currently accepted bioassays are not appropriate for evaluating risks in arid and semiarid ecosystems, their use in conducting ERAs in such environments may result in inadequate expenditure of time and money to develop data that accurately characterize risks. The inapplicability of this technical tool will thus hamper the risk management decision-making process and result in flawed decisions.