The role of physical disturbance for litter decomposition and nutrient cycling in coastal sand dunes

Autor: David Rosebery, Tiffany Rodolfo-Damiano, Stéphane Bujan, Quentin Laporte-Fauret, Ana Teresa Alonso Ayuso, Richard Michalet, Vincent Marieu, Bruno Castelle
Přispěvatelé: UMR 5805 Environnements et Paléoenvironnements Océaniques et Continentaux (EPOC), Observatoire aquitain des sciences de l'univers (OASU), Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Office National des Forêts (ONF)
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Foredune
Environmental Engineering
Disturbance (geology)
Physical disturbance
010501 environmental sciences
Management
Monitoring
Policy and Law
01 natural sciences
Deposition (geology)
Sand dune stabilization
[SDV.EE.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology
environment/Ecosystems
Ecosystem
Sand deposition
[SDU.STU.GM]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geomorphology
14. Life underwater
Transect
Drone surveys
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Nature and Landscape Conservation
Hydrology
Litter decomposition
04 agricultural and veterinary sciences
Ecotone
15. Life on land
Digging
Ecosystem functioning
040103 agronomy & agriculture
0401 agriculture
forestry
and fisheries
Environmental science
Wind abrasion
[SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology
Coastal dunes
Zdroj: Ecological Engineering
Ecological Engineering, Elsevier, 2021, 162, pp.106181. ⟨10.1016/j.ecoleng.2021.106181⟩
ISSN: 0925-8574
1872-6992
DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoleng.2021.106181
Popis: International audience; Disturbance increases ecosystem functioning in productive habitats but its effect in stressful conditions is less documented, although this is crucial for understanding the resilience of disturbed systems to natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Our goal is to assess the influence of physical disturbance for ecosystem functioning in coastal sand dunes. We set up an experimental design, including two treatments in four blocks, in a four km-long dune site from South West France. We simulated physical disturbance from marine and wind origin, digging Experimental Notches (EN), in the incipient (West EN treatment) and established foredunes (East EN treatment), respectively and compared the effects of EN to controls along transects including 13 positions from the beach to the transition dune behind ENs. We sampled litter decomposition rate, elevation variation, wind abrasion, sand grain size and vegetation composition. We also used drones to quantify sand deposition sheets during severe winter storms. Litter decomposition rate was the highest where sand accumulated the most, at the ecotone between the established foredune and transition dune and in the East EN treatment. This increase of ecosystem functioning was correlated to wind patterns. However, there was also a strong alongshore variability, with important sand deposition sheets occurring in some blocks depending on dune geomorphology. Vegetation composition was mainly influenced by shoreline distance, but also by the block and EN treatment, with a strong interaction between these three effects. We conclude that physical disturbance increase ecosystem functioning in the stressful conditions of the Atlantic sand dunes, only when sand accumulates, whereas excessive disturbances enhancing sand erosion are not favorable for ecosystem functioning.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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