School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, 370 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
Science. 2012 Jun 15;336(6087):1434-8. doi: 10.1126/science.1220097.
Aboveground consumers are believed to affect ecosystem functioning by regulating the quantity and quality of plant litter entering the soil. We uncovered a pathway whereby terrestrial predators regulate ecosystem processes via indirect control over soil community function. Grasshopper herbivores stressed by spider predators have a higher body carbon-to-nitrogen ratio than do grasshoppers raised without spiders. This change in elemental content does not slow grasshopper decomposition but perturbs belowground community function, decelerating the subsequent decomposition of plant litter. This legacy effect of predation on soil community function appears to be regulated by the amount of herbivore protein entering the soil.
地上消费者被认为通过调节进入土壤的植物凋落物的数量和质量来影响生态系统功能。我们揭示了一条途径，即通过对土壤群落功能的间接控制，陆地捕食者调节生态系统过程。受到蜘蛛捕食者胁迫的草食性昆虫的体碳氮比高于没有蜘蛛的草食性昆虫。这种元素含量的变化不会减缓草食性昆虫的分解，但会扰乱地下群落功能，从而减缓植物凋落物的后续分解。这种捕食对土壤群落功能的遗留效应似乎受到进入土壤的食草动物蛋白量的调节。
