Abstract
Carrion is long recognized as important to scavengers. How carrion may affect soil microbial biodiversity and ecosystem processes in natural systems is comparatively unknown, but is important for the intersection of vertebrate food webs, below-ground processes and ecological heterogeneity. We assessed in situ soil and plant responses to wolf-killed mammal carrion in Yellowstone National Park, USA. Bison and elk carcasses increased soil respiration and vegetation nutrient concentration and the carcasses contain altered bacterial and fungal communities compared to control plots. The ‘fingerprints’ of soil microbial taxa associated with bison compared to elk carcasses differed considerably and taxa are found dependent upon abiotic gradients and soil properties. We found evidence that soil microbial community changes associated with carcasses may not be as generalizable as previously thought, which is important for a mechanistic understanding of the links between carrion and soil heterogeneity and potentially for applications in forensic science. This work demonstrates the importance of carrion studies in natural systems. Our findings show that carrion creates distinct ecological patterns that contribute to both above- and below-ground biological heterogeneity, linking carrion distribution dynamics with soil microbial biodiversity and ecosystem functions.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1933-1944 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Functional Ecology |
| Volume | 34 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 1 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We thank the Yellowstone wolf crew for providing the coordinates and metadata for the winter 2016/17 carcass locations. We are grateful to Heidi Anderson, Nicholas Horton and Brady Horton for help during fieldwork, and Amy Schrank for support in the laboratory. Joel Ruethi is acknowledged for help in the laboratory processing of the samples for molecular analysis. The authors also thank the Genetic Diversity Center at ETH Zürich and the contribution of scientists at the McGill University and Génome Québec Innovation Center in Montreal, Canada for performing Illumina MiSeq sequencing. We are grateful to the School of Forest Resources and Environmental Sciences, Michigan Technological University, for providing access and supplies for the tensile strength testing of our cotton cloths. J.K.B. was supported by grants from the United States National Science Foundation (NSF ID#1545611, NSF ID#1556676).
Funding Information:
We thank the Yellowstone wolf crew for providing the coordinates and metadata for the winter 2016/17 carcass locations. We are grateful to Heidi Anderson, Nicholas Horton and Brady Horton for help during fieldwork, and Amy Schrank for support in the laboratory. Joel Ruethi is acknowledged for help in the laboratory processing of the samples for molecular analysis. The authors also thank the Genetic Diversity Center at ETH Z?rich and the contribution of scientists at the McGill University and G?nome Qu?bec Innovation Center in Montreal, Canada for performing Illumina MiSeq sequencing. We are grateful to the School of Forest Resources and Environmental Sciences, Michigan Technological University, for providing access and supplies for the tensile strength testing of our cotton cloths. J.K.B. was supported by grants from the United States National Science Foundation (NSF ID#1545611, NSF ID#1556676).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 British Ecological Society
Keywords
- bacteria
- biogeochemical cycling
- carcass
- carrion
- decomposition
- detritus
- fungi
- soil biodiversity