What happens to the green stuff? Applying a novel zoogeochemical lens to ecosystem nutrient cycling

绿色的东西会怎样？

• 批准号: NE/X01374X/1
• 负责人: Kate Parr
• 金额: $ 102.66万
• 依托单位: University of Liverpool
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FX01374X%2F1
• 关键词: What; happens; green; stuff; Applying

Our project will make a major new contribution to the emerging field of zoogeochemistry as the first study, in any terrestrial ecosystem, to experimental quantify alternative animal-controlled recycling pathways and determine their influence on ecosystem biogeochemistry at a large scale.Biogeochemical cycling, the movement and transformation of chemicals and nutrients in an ecosystem, involves the breakdown of plant matter and is essential for making nutrients available again for plants. Animals directly and indirectly affect elemental cycling, but have typically been overlooked as key agents. Humans are altering biogeochemical cycles through changes to fire regimes, biodiversity and climate change. As such it is essential we understand what biogeochemical pathways operate in different places, and what the consequences of global changes are for biogeochemical functions. For example, what are the impacts of megaherbivore defaunation or restoration on ecosystem nutrient supply? Here, we quantify plant biomass recycling via the two biotically-driven recycling pathways, herbivory and decomposition, and determine their influence on ecosystem biogeochemistry.We focus on an arid savannas where these pathways are dominant and the system is tractable (i.e. uniquely, we can manipulate the dominant decomposer, termites, and also herbivores). Using large-scale field manipulations, we will separate out and quantify the importance of key animal groups (large mammalian herbivores, invertebrates, microbes) for biomass consumption and nutrient recycling. We then determine the consequences of herbivory and decomposition for ecosystem biogeochemistry.There are two work packages (WPs):WP1. Biomass removal in each recycling pathway: dominance, agents & interactions: using targeted suppression methods to reduce the abundance of termites combined with large mammal exclosures we will be partition and quantify the contribution of different pathways and animal groups to biomass removal. We will also explore additive effects and interactions among the pathways, and determine levels of system redundancy (i.e. whether any groups can compensate ecologically for others in their absence).WP2. Contribution of pathways to biogeochemical cycling: we will quantify ecosystem productivity and nutrient cycling to determine the contribution of the different pathways to ecosystem biogeochemical cycling. In doing so we will provide novel assessments of the way savannas function and the contributions that different animal groups make.By using large-scale experimental manipulations to simultaneously determine the relative contribution of two dominant recycling pathways in arid savannas (herbivory and decomposition) and their influence on savanna biogeochemistry, our proposed project will deliver novel and fundamental insights into the functioning of these systems enabling a better understanding of the biogeochemical consequences of altered pathways. This would also be, to our knowledge, the first such experimental quantification of these alternative pathways in any large-scale terrestrial ecosystem.

我们的项目将为动物地球化学的新兴领域做出重大的新贡献，作为任何陆地生态系统中的第一项研究，以实验量化替代动物控制的回收途径并大规模确定它们对生态系统生物地球化学的影响。生物地球化学循环，运动生态系统中化学物质和营养物质的转化，涉及植物物质的分解，对于使营养物质再次可供植物使用至关重要。动物直接和间接影响元素循环，但作为关键因素通常被忽视。人类正在通过改变火灾状况、生物多样性和气候变化来改变生物地球化学循环。因此，我们有必要了解不同地方的生物地球化学途径，以及全球变化对生物地球化学功能的影响。例如，大型食草动物动物区系丧失或恢复对生态系统养分供应有何影响？在这里，我们通过两种生物驱动的回收途径（食草和分解）量化植物生物质回收，并确定它们对生态系统生物地球化学的影响。我们关注这些途径占主导地位且系统易于处理的干旱稀树草原（即，我们可以独特地操纵主要分解者、白蚁和食草动物）。通过大规模的现场操作，我们将分离并量化关键动物群体（大型哺乳动物食草动物、无脊椎动物、微生物）对生物质消耗和养分循环的重要性。然后我们确定食草和分解对生态系统生物地球化学的影响。有两个工作包（WP）：WP1。每个回收途径中的生物质去除：优势、代理和相互作用：使用有针对性的抑制方法来减少白蚁的丰度，并结合大型哺乳动物的围栏，我们将划分和量化不同途径和动物群体对生物质去除的贡献。我们还将探索路径之间的累加效应和相互作用，并确定系统冗余的水平（即，是否有任何群体可以在生态上补偿其他群体的缺席）。WP2。途径对生物地球化学循环的贡献：我们将量化生态系统生产力和养分循环，以确定不同途径对生态系统生物地球化学循环的贡献。在此过程中，我们将对稀树草原的功能方式和不同动物群体的贡献提供新颖的评估。通过使用大规模实验操作，同时确定干旱稀树草原中两种主要回收途径（食草和分解）的相对贡献及其由于对稀树草原生物地球化学的影响，我们提出的项目将为这些系统的功能提供新颖和基本的见解，从而更好地理解改变途径的生物地球化学后果。据我们所知，这也将是任何大型陆地生态系统中这些替代途径的首次此类实验量化。