研究亮点:费拉罗,K.M.,韦尔克,L.,沃德,E.B.,施密茨,O.J.,&Bradford,M、A、(2023年)。植物菌根协会介导了森林有蹄类动物产卵补贴的动物地球化学作用。动物生态学杂志,https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.14002.动物在生态系统元素循环中起着重要作用,但预测不同环境下的影响仍然是一个巨大的挑战。进步的基础是(1)确定动物影响养分分布和循环的机制,(2)理清环境语境如何中介替代机制的运作。在一个优雅的野外实验中,Ferraro等人。(2023)首次详细探索了哺乳动物分娩的养分输入对土壤功能和植物组织化学计量的影响。作者发现,实验中添加的有蹄类动物分娩材料(出生液)中的氮被迅速掺入微场所土壤有机池和植物组织中。他们还发现土壤过程(土壤微生物生物量,碳矿化率,氮矿化和硝化)和地上和地下植物组织的氮含量通过添加分娩材料而增加。值得注意的是,作者发现,在某些土壤过程和植物组织氮的增加,在以针状菌根植物为主的微位点中比在外生菌根植物为主的微位点弱。这些发现表明,分娩沉积,一种无处不在但被忽视的哺乳动物对生态系统影响的机制,影响生态系统过程和植物组织化学计量。此外,植物-真菌关联是环境依赖性的预测轴,可在精细尺度上介导动物地理化学效应。Ferraro等人。(2023年)的新方法同时提高了对精细尺度上动物-生态系统相互作用的机械理解,并有助于预测有蹄类动物对景观范围内养分利用率的影响。
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.