Biogeochemistry and geographical ecology: Embracing all twenty-five elements required to build organisms

Michael Kaspari; Jennifer S. Powers

doi:10.1086/687576

Biogeochemistry and geographical ecology: Embracing all twenty-five elements required to build organisms

Michael Kaspari, Jennifer S. Powers

Ecology, Evolution and Behavior

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

129 Scopus citations

Abstract

Biogeochemistry is a key but relatively neglected part of the abiotic template that underlies ecology. The template has a geography, one that is increasingly being rearranged in this era of global change. Justus von Liebig’s law of the minimum has played a useful role in focusing attention on biogeochemical regulation of populations, but given that ∼251 elements are required to build organisms and that these organisms use and deplete nutrients in aggregates of communities and ecosystems, we make the case that it is time to move on. We review available models that suggest the many different mechanisms that give rise to multiple elements, or colimitation. We then review recent empirical data that show that rates of decomposition and primary productivity may be limited by multiple elements. In that light, given the tropics’ high species diversity and generally more weathered soils, we predict that colimitation at community and ecosystem scales is more prevalent closer to the equator. We conclude with suggestions for how to move forward with experimental studies of colimitation.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	S62-S73
Journal	American Naturalist
Volume	188
Issue number	S1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1086/687576
State	Published - Sep 2016

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This article was written with the support of National Science Foundation (NSF) EF-1065844 to M.K. and NSF DEB 1053237 and the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, Terrestrial Ecosystem Science Program award DE-SC0014363 to J.S.P. We have both been inspired by the work we have reviewed within and to J. Hagen and V. Smil, who have written so elegantly on the origins of many of the ideas we discuss here. We also thank M. Zuk for the opportunity to contribute to this symposium issue and E. Bruna, M. Zuk, and an anonymous reviewer for helpful comments on a previous draft of this manuscript.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 by The University of Chicago.

Keywords

Colimitation
Decomposition
Law of the minimum
Multiple-element limitation
Soil nutrient availability
Substrate age hypothesis

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title = "Biogeochemistry and geographical ecology: Embracing all twenty-five elements required to build organisms",

abstract = "Biogeochemistry is a key but relatively neglected part of the abiotic template that underlies ecology. The template has a geography, one that is increasingly being rearranged in this era of global change. Justus von Liebig{\textquoteright}s law of the minimum has played a useful role in focusing attention on biogeochemical regulation of populations, but given that ∼251 elements are required to build organisms and that these organisms use and deplete nutrients in aggregates of communities and ecosystems, we make the case that it is time to move on. We review available models that suggest the many different mechanisms that give rise to multiple elements, or colimitation. We then review recent empirical data that show that rates of decomposition and primary productivity may be limited by multiple elements. In that light, given the tropics{\textquoteright} high species diversity and generally more weathered soils, we predict that colimitation at community and ecosystem scales is more prevalent closer to the equator. We conclude with suggestions for how to move forward with experimental studies of colimitation.",

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note = "Funding Information: This article was written with the support of National Science Foundation (NSF) EF-1065844 to M.K. and NSF DEB 1053237 and the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, Terrestrial Ecosystem Science Program award DE-SC0014363 to J.S.P. We have both been inspired by the work we have reviewed within and to J. Hagen and V. Smil, who have written so elegantly on the origins of many of the ideas we discuss here. We also thank M. Zuk for the opportunity to contribute to this symposium issue and E. Bruna, M. Zuk, and an anonymous reviewer for helpful comments on a previous draft of this manuscript. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2016 by The University of Chicago.",

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Biogeochemistry and geographical ecology: Embracing all twenty-five elements required to build organisms

Abstract

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Keywords

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