Soil C and N cycling in three semiarid vegetation types: Response to an in situ pulse of plant detritus

Plant detritus is an important source of labile C that drives soil microbial growth and regulates the balance of N mineralization and immobilization. In semiarid ecosystems, timing of plant detrital inputs may be especially important in regulating microbial C and N cycling because of the relatively short window of time when moisture is available. Low soil moisture in early-summer may inhibit microbial colonization of recently released detritus, resulting in C-limitations to microbial growth, and this may explain the NO3? accumulation commonly observed in semiarid, arid, and Mediterranean ecosystems. We examined linkages between soil C availability and gross N cycling rates during summer in three common semiarid...

Categories: Publication; Types: Citation, Journal Citation; Tags: Soil Biology and Biochemistry, carbon availability, detritus, in situ pulse, microbial substrate c:n, All tags... n immobilization, organic matter fraction, semiarid, Fewer tags

Environmental, biological, and leaf litter decomposition data in the Colorado River downstream of Glen Canyon Dam between 1998 and 2022

Yes, all data values are reasonable and within the valid range for measurement. The data release consists of 15 tabular data files (csv). These data were compiled to compare patterns and potential drivers of leaf litter decomposition in the Colorado River downstream of Glen Canyon Dam between 1998 and 2022. Objective(s) of our study were to compare the breakdown of cottonwood (Populus fremontii), willow (Salix exigua), and salt cedar (Tamarix chinensis) leaves to a previous decomposition experiment from 1998 (Pomeroy et al. 2000) that was conducted in the context of much cooler water temperatures, higher phosphorus concentrations, lower New Zealand mudsnail densities, and salt cedar litter that was unaffected by...

Categories: Data; Tags: Aquatic Biology, Arizona, Colorado River, Ecology, Geography, All tags... Glen Canyon Dam, Hydrology, Information Sciences, Lake Powell, New Zealand mudsnail, Populus fremontii, Salix exigua, Tamarix chinensis, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), USGS:6500d7ead34ed30c20580390, Water Resources, air temperature, beetle, biochemistry, biomass, biota, climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere, community composition, community ecology, cottonwood, data release, decay rates, decomposition, detritus, environment, field data, field experiments, field sampling, growth, inlandWaters, invasive species, invertebrates, laboratory experiments, leaf, leaf litter, leaf litter chemistry, leaf litter mass, leaf mass, leaf nutrient content, leaf pack, litter, nutrient content (water), phosphorus, physicochemical variable, population and community ecology, relative abundance analysis, reservoir storage, river ecosystems, saltcedar, stream discharge, vegetation, warming, water chemistry, water nutrient data, water temperature, willow, Fewer tags

Nutrient Subsidies to Belowground Microbes Impact Aboveground Food Web Interactions

Historically, terrestrial food web theory has been compartmentalized into interactions among aboveground or belowground communities. In this study we took a more synthetic approach to understanding food web interactions by simultaneously examining four trophic levels and investigating how nutrient (nitrogen and carbon) and detrital subsidies impact the ability of the belowground microbial community to alter the abundance of aboveground arthropods (herbivores and predators) associated with the intertidal cord grass Spartina alterniflora. We manipulated carbon, nitrogen, and detrital resources in a field experiment and measured decomposition rate, soil nitrogen pools, plant biomass and quality, herbivore density,...

Categories: Publication; Types: Citation, Journal Citation; Tags: Ecological Society of America, Ecology, Spartina alterniflora, aboveground-belowground interactions, detritus, All tags... food web dynamics, insect herbivores, intertidal cord grass, nitrogen mineralization, nutrient subsidies, plant-insect interactions, predation, soil microbes, Fewer tags