Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
J Anim Ecol. 2023 Dec;92(12):2244-2247. doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.14023. Epub 2023 Nov 12.
Research Highlight: Ferraro, K. M., Welker, L., Ward, E. B., Schmitz, O. J., & Bradford, M. A. (2023). Plant mycorrhizal associations mediate the zoogeochemical effects of calving subsidies by a forest ungulate. Journal of Animal Ecology, https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.14002. Animals play large roles in ecosystem elemental cycling but predicting effects in diverse contexts remains a substantial challenge. Fundamental to progress is (1) identifying mechanisms by which animals impact nutrient distribution and cycling, and (2) disentangling how environmental context mediates the operation of alternative mechanisms. In an elegant field experiment, Ferraro et al. (2023) provide the first detailed exploration of the impact of nutrient inputs from mammalian parturition on soil functioning and the stoichiometry of plant tissues. The authors find that nitrogen from experimental additions of ungulate parturition material (natal fluids) is rapidly incorporated into microsite soil organic pools and plant tissues. They also find that soil processes (soil microbial biomass, rates of carbon mineralization, nitrogen mineralization and nitrification) and the nitrogen content of plant tissues above- and belowground are increased by addition of parturition material. Notably, the authors identify that increases in some soil processes and plant tissue nitrogen are weaker in microsites dominated by ericoid mycorrhizal plants than those dominated by ectomycorrhizal plants. These findings demonstrate that parturition depositions, a ubiquitous but overlooked mechanism of mammalian impacts on ecosystems, impact ecosystem processes and plant tissue stoichiometry. Furthermore, plant-fungal associations are a predictive axis of context dependency mediating zoogeochemical effects at fine scales. Ferraro et al.'s (2023) novel approach simultaneously advances mechanistic understanding of animal-ecosystem interactions at fine scales and facilitates prediction of ungulate effects on nutrient availability at landscape extents.
费拉罗、K.M.、韦尔克、L.、沃德、E.B.、施米茨、O.J.和布拉德福德、M.A.（2023）。植物菌根共生体介导了森林有蹄类动物产犊补贴的地球化学效应。动物在生态系统元素循环中起着重要作用，但在不同的背景下预测其影响仍然是一个巨大的挑战。进展的基础是（1）确定动物影响养分分布和循环的机制，以及（2）厘清环境背景如何调节替代机制的运作。在一项精心设计的野外实验中，费拉罗等人（2023 年）首次详细探讨了哺乳动物分娩过程中氮素输入对土壤功能和植物组织化学计量的影响。作者发现，实验中添加的有蹄动物分娩物质（分娩液）中的氮迅速被纳入微区位点土壤有机库和植物组织中。他们还发现，土壤过程（土壤微生物生物量、碳矿化、氮矿化和硝化速率）以及地上和地下植物组织的氮含量因分娩物质的添加而增加。值得注意的是，作者发现，在以菌根植物为主的微位点中，一些土壤过程和植物组织氮的增加弱于以外生菌根植物为主的微位点。这些发现表明，分娩沉积物是哺乳动物对生态系统影响的一种普遍但被忽视的机制，它影响着生态系统过程和植物组织的化学计量。此外，植物-真菌共生体是一个预测性的轴，在微观尺度上调节着动物的地球化学效应。费拉罗等人（2023 年）的新方法同时推进了对动物-生态系统相互作用的微观尺度的机制理解，并促进了对景观尺度上有蹄类动物对养分可利用性影响的预测。
