Consumer Regulation of Nutrient Cycling

Autor: George W. Gallepp, Steven M. Bartell, David Webb, Robert V. O'Neill, Beverly S. Ausmus, Joseph F. Koonce, James F. Kitchell
Rok vydání: 1979
Předmět:
Zdroj: BioScience. 29:28-34
ISSN: 1525-3244
0006-3568
DOI: 10.2307/1307570
Popis: Nutrient-cycling rates in ecosystems may be altered by translocation and transformation that result from the consumption process and/or the behavior of consumer organisms. Translocation by mobile consumers redistributes nutrients within and between subunits of the ecosystem. Migration of zooplankton and fishes carries nutrients across water-mass boundaries or retards net flux by sedimentation. Bioturbation of sediments and mixing of soil horizons by invertebrates similarly redistribute nutrients across system strata, facilitating utilization by primary producers. Transformation of particle size distribution alters rates of nutrient cycling in proportion to changes in surface/volume relationships. Through selective predation and comminution, consumers regulate rates of nutrient cycling. Nutrient pools comprised of large biomass units (e.g., tree boles, soil litter, lake zooplankton) may be transformed to smaller units, resulting in accelerated nutrient-cycling processes. Small units may be aggregated, for example, as macroarthropod feces or fish biomass, resulting in conservation of nutrients.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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