Scavenging beetles control the temporal response of soil communities to carrion decomposition
Scavenging beetles control the temporal response of soil communities to carrion decomposition
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DOI：
10.1111/1365-2435.13849
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发表时间：
2021-06-21
影响因子：
5.2
通讯作者：
Caruso，Tancredi
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Ilardi，Marco O.;Cotter，Sheena C.;Caruso，Tancredi
腐肉是一种常见但被忽视的土壤养分来源。无脊椎动物食腐动物加速了腐肉的分解，但其对地下生物区系的影响及其功能尚不清楚。我们通过室内实验研究了埋藏甲虫Nicrophorus vespilloide对温带阔叶林土壤群落的影响。我们从橡树林地收集的土壤中组装的缩影，并将它们与museMus musculus尸体和交配对埋葬甲虫（+）在析因设计与对照土壤。随着时间的推移，我们独立的重复采样，以调查甲虫如何影响土壤微节肢动物和微生物生物量（细菌和真菌）的土壤pH值和有机质contents.The甲虫治疗最初减少了总微生物生物量和丰富的主要类群的微节肢动物相对于对照soil。与此同时，有机质在甲虫处理中增加，然后在甲虫繁殖周期（2周）结束时下降到甲虫前的水平（即土壤基线）。有机质的快速时间变化模仿的相对丰度的优势microarthropod组，与甲螨相对更丰富的比弹尾目和捕食螨的甲虫治疗。甲虫（相对于实验室对照）对微型节肢动物的总体最终影响是负面的，但甲虫将这些变量保持在新鲜收集的土壤（基线）中观察到的水平内，而对pH值的最终影响是积极的，最有可能是由尸体的营养过剩和分解过程引发的生化变化所驱动的。我们的研究表明，在尸体中繁殖的甲虫调节土壤食物网关键组成部分的动态，包括微生物生物量、优势微型节肢动物相对丰度的变化以及土壤有机质和pH值。这项研究表明，这些甲虫的分布是林地土壤养分循环变化的关键驱动力。在本文的支持信息中可以找到。
Carrion is a frequent but overlooked source of nutrients to the soil. The decomposition of carrion is accelerated by invertebrate scavengers, but the impact of the scavengers on below‐ground biota and its functions is scarcely known.We conducted a laboratory experiment to investigate the effects of the burying beetleNicrophorus vespilloideson the soil community of a temperate broadleaved forest. We assembled microcosms from soil collected from an oak woodland and treated them with mouseMus musculuscarcasses and mating pairs of burying beetles (♀+♂) in a factorial design with control soils. We sampled independent replicates over time to investigate how the beetles affect soil microarthropods and microbial biomass (bacteria and fungi) in relation to soil pH and organic matter content.The beetle treatment initially reduced the total microbial biomass and abundance of major groups of microarthropods relative to the control soil. At the same time, organic matter increased in the beetle treatment and then dropped to the pre‐beetle level (i.e. soil baseline) at the end of the beetle breeding cycle (2 weeks). The rapid temporal changes in organic matter were mimicked by the relative abundances of the dominant microarthropod groups, with Oribatida relatively more abundant than Collembola and predaceous mites in the beetle treatment. The overall final effect of the beetle (relative to the laboratory control) on microarthropods was negative but the beetle kept these variables within the levels observed for freshly collected soil (baseline), while the final effect on pH was positive, and most likely driven by the surplus of nutrients from the carcass and biochemical changes triggered by the decomposition process.In nature, scavenging invertebrates are widespread. Our study demonstrates that beetles breeding in carcasses regulate the dynamics of key components of the soil food web, including microbial biomass, changes in the relative abundances of dominant microarthropods and soil organic matter and pH. Given the abundance of these beetles in nature, the study implies that the distribution of these beetles is a key driver of variation in soil nutrient cycling in woodlands.A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.