| Title: | Herbivory changes soil microbial communities and greenhouse gas fluxes in a high-latitude wetland |
| Author(s): | Foley KM; Beard KH; Atwood TB; Waring BG; |
| Address: | "Department of Biology and the Ecology Center, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, 84322-5305, USA. Department of Wildland Resources and the Ecology Center, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, 84322-5230, USA. Department of Watershed Sciences and the Ecology Center, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, 84322-5210, USA. Department of Biology and the Ecology Center, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, 84322-5305, USA. bonnie.waring@gmail.com. Current address: Grantham Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, Imperial College London, London, UK. bonnie.waring@gmail.com" |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s00248-021-01733-8 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1432-184X (Electronic) 0095-3628 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Herbivory can have strong impacts on greenhouse gas fluxes in high-latitude ecosystems. For example, in the Yukon-Kuskokwim (Y-K) Delta in western Alaska, migratory goose grazing affects the magnitude of soil carbon dioxide (CO(2)) and methane (CH(4)) fluxes. However, the underlying drivers of this relationship are unclear, as few studies systematically tease apart the processes by which herbivores influences soil biogeochemistry. To examine these mechanisms in detail, we conducted a laboratory incubation experiment to quantify changes in greenhouse gas fluxes in response to three parameters altered by herbivores in situ: temperature, soil moisture content, and nutrient inputs. These treatments were applied to soils collected in grazing lawns and nearby ungrazed habitat, allowing us to assess how variation in microbial community structure influenced observed responses. We found pronounced differences in both fungal and prokaryotic community composition between grazed and ungrazed areas. In the laboratory incubation experiment, CO(2) and CH(4) fluxes increased with temperature, soil moisture, and goose fecal addition, suggesting that grazing-related changes in the soil abiotic environment may enhance soil C losses. Yet, these abiotic drivers were insufficient to explain variation in fluxes between soils with and without prior grazing. Differences in trace gas fluxes between grazed and ungrazed areas may result both from herbivore-induced shifts in abiotic parameters and grazing-related alterations in microbial community structure. Our findings suggest that relationships among herbivores and soil microbial communities could mediate carbon-climate feedbacks in rapidly changing high-latitude ecosystems" |
| Keywords: | Carbon Dioxide/analysis *Greenhouse Gases Herbivory Methane/analysis *Microbiota Nitrous Oxide Soil/chemistry Wetlands Carbon dioxide Grazing Methane Migratory geese Soil carbon cycling Tundra Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta; |
| Notes: | "MedlineFoley, Karen M Beard, Karen H Atwood, Trisha B Waring, Bonnie G eng ARC-1304523/National Science Foundation/ ARCCS-1932889/NSF/ 2021/03/23 Microb Ecol. 2022 Jan; 83(1):127-136. doi: 10.1007/s00248-021-01733-8. Epub 2021 Mar 22" |
