The stoichiometric legacy of fire regime regulates the roles of micro-organisms and invertebrates in decomposition

Orpheus M Butler; Tom Lewis; Mehran Rezaei Rashti; Sarah C Maunsell; James J Elser; Chengrong Chen

doi:10.1002/ecy.2732

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The stoichiometric legacy of fire regime regulates the roles of micro-organisms and invertebrates in decomposition

Journal article

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The stoichiometric legacy of fire regime regulates the roles of micro-organisms and invertebrates in decomposition

Orpheus M Butler, Tom Lewis, Mehran Rezaei Rashti, Sarah C Maunsell, James J Elser and Chengrong Chen

Ecology, Vol.100(7), e02732

2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2732

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Abstract

prescribed burning

litter

decay

stoichiometry

N:P ratio

invertebrates

eco-enzymes

phosphorus-limitation

Decadal-scale increases in fire frequency have the potential to deplete ecosystems of essential nutrients and consequently impede nutrient-limited biological processes via stoichiometric imbalance. Decomposition, afundamentalecosystem functionandstrongdriverof future fire occurrence, is highly sensitive to nutrient availability and is, therefore,particularlyimportantin this context.Here we show that forty years of quadrennial(4yB) and biennial(2yB) prescribed burning result in severely P-andN-depleted litter stoichiometry,respectively,relative to fire exclusion.These effects exacerbated the nutrient limitation of microbial activities, constraininglitter decompositionby 23.6% (2yB) and 42.1% (4yB) relative to unburned areas.However, invertebrate-driven decomposition largely compensated for the diminished capacity of micro-organisms under 4yB, suggesting that invertebrates couldhave an important stabilising influence in fire-affected ecosystems.This effect was strongly positively coupled with the strength of microbial P-limitation and was not obviously or directly driven byfire regime-induced changes in invertebrate community assemblage. Together, our results reveal that high-frequency fire regimes promote nutrient-poor, carbon-rich ecosystem stoichiometry and, in doing so, disrupt ecosystem processes and modify the relative functionality of micro-organisms and invertebrates.

Details

Title: The stoichiometric legacy of fire regime regulates the roles of micro-organisms and invertebrates in decomposition
Authors: Orpheus M Butler (Author) - Griffith University
Tom Lewis (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Mehran Rezaei Rashti (Author) - Griffith University
Sarah C Maunsell (Author) - Harvard University
James J Elser (Author) - University of Montana
Chengrong Chen (Author) - Griffith University
Publication details: Ecology, Vol.100(7), e02732
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Date published: 2019
DOI: 10.1002/ecy.2732
ISSN: 0012-9658
Copyright note: Copyright © 2019 The Authors. This is the accepted version of the following article: Butler, Orpheus M; Lewis, T; Rashti, Mehran Rezaei; Maunsell, Sarah C; Elser, James J; Chen, Chengrong (2019) The stoichiometric legacy of fire regime regulates the roles of micro-organisms and invertebrates in decomposition. Ecology 100:7, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2732
Organisation Unit: University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Forest Research Institute
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99450783002621
Output Type: Journal article

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