Herbivory makes major contributions to ecosystem carbon and nutrient cycling in tropical forests
Herbivory makes major contributions to ecosystem carbon and nutrient cycling in tropical forests
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DOI：
10.1111/ele.12233
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发表时间：
2014-03-01
期刊：
影响因子：
8.8
通讯作者：
Malhi, Yadvinder
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Metcalfe, Daniel B.;Asner, Gregory P.;Malhi, Yadvinder
草食动物在热带雨林中的功能作用仍然知之甚少。我们量化了热带安第斯山脉年平均温度为12摄氏度的2800米海拔梯度上无脊椎动物草食动物循环的碳、氮和磷的规模及其潜在控制。我们发现，首先，叶面积损失在叶磷较低的温暖地点更大，其次，估计的草食动物通过叶面积损失从植物到土壤的叶氮磷通量与热带森林中这些养分的其他主要来源相似或更大。最后，我们估计，食草动物消耗了相当大一部分植物碳，潜在地导致植物和土壤碳循环模式的重大变化。我们的结论是，未来由于环境变化而导致的食草动物丰度和活动的变化可能会对热带森林的土壤肥力和生态系统碳固定产生重大影响。
The functional role of herbivores in tropical rainforests remains poorly understood. We quantified the magnitude of, and underlying controls on, carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycled by invertebrate herbivory along a 2800m elevational gradient in the tropical Andes spanning 12 degrees C mean annual temperature. We find, firstly, that leaf area loss is greater at warmer sites with lower foliar phosphorus, and secondly, that the estimated herbivore-mediated flux of foliar nitrogen and phosphorus from plants to soil via leaf area loss is similar to, or greater than, other major sources of these nutrients in tropical forests. Finally, we estimate that herbivores consume a significant portion of plant carbon, potentially causing major shifts in the pattern of plant and soil carbon cycling. We conclude that future shifts in herbivore abundance and activity as a result of environmental change could have major impacts on soil fertility and ecosystem carbon sequestration in tropical forests.