Connecting the green and brown worlds: Allometric and stoichiometric predictability of above- and below-ground networks

Christian Mulder, Farshid S. Ahrestani, Michael Bahn, D. A. Bohan, Michael Bonkowski, Bryan S. Griffiths, Rannveig Anna Guicharnaud, Jens Kattge, Paul Henning Krogh, Sandra Lavorel, Owen T. Lewis, Giorgio Mancinelli, Shahid Naeem, Josep Peñuelas, Hendrik Poorter, Peter B. Reich, Loreto Rossi, Graciela M. Rusch, Jordi Sardans, Ian J. Wright

Publikation: Bidrag til bog/antologi/rapport/proceedingBidrag til bog/antologiForskningpeer review

71 Citationer (Scopus)

Abstract

We examine the potential of trait-based parameters of taxa for linking above-ground and belowground ecological networks (hereafter ‘green’ and ‘brown’ worlds) to understand and predict community dynamics. This synthesis considers carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus-related traits, the abundance of component species and their size-distribution across trophic levels under different forms of management. We have analyzed existing and novel databases on plants, microbes and invertebrates that combine physico-chemical and biological information from (agro)ecosystems spanning the globe. We found (1) evidence that traits from above-ground and below-ground systems may be integrated in the same model and (2) a much greater than expected stoichiometric plasticity of plants and microbes which has implications for the entire food-web mass-abundance scaling. Nitrogen and phosphorus are primary basal resources (hence, drivers) and more retranslocation of P than of N from leaves will lead to higher N:P in the litter and soil organic matter. Thus, under nutrient-rich conditions, higher foliar concentrations of N and P are reflected by lower N:P in the brown litter, suggesting less P retranslocated than N. This apparent stoichiometric dichotomy between green and brown could result in shifts in threshold elemental ratios critical for ecosystem functioning. It has important implications for a general food-web model, given that resource C:N:P ratios are generally assumed to reflect environmental C:N:P ratios. We also provide the first evidence for large-scale allometric changes according to the stoichiometry of agroecosystems. Finally, we discuss insights that can be gained from integrating carbon and nitrogen isotope data into trait-based approaches, and address the origin of changes in Δ13C and Δ15N fractionation values in relation to consumer-resource body-mass ratios

OriginalsprogEngelsk
TitelAdvances in Ecological Research : Ecological Networks in an Agricultural World
RedaktørerG. Woodward, D. A. Bohan
Vol/bind49
ForlagAcademic Press
Publikationsdato25 nov. 2013
Sider69–175
Kapitel2
ISBN (Trykt)9780124200029
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 25 nov. 2013
NavnAdvances in Ecological Research
Nummer49
ISSN0065-2504

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