Cross-ecosystem Carbon Flows Connecting Ecosystems Worldwide

Overview

Journal Nat Commun

Specialty Biology

Date 2018 Nov 18

PMID 30446663

Citations 17

Authors

Isabelle Gounand

Chelsea J Little

Eric Harvey

Florian Altermatt

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Ecosystems are widely interconnected by spatial flows of material, but the overall importance of these flows relative to local ecosystem functioning remains unclear. Here we provide a quantitative synthesis on spatial flows of carbon connecting ecosystems worldwide. Cross-ecosystem flows range over eight orders of magnitude, bringing between 10 and 10 gC m year to recipient ecosystems. Magnitudes are similar to local fluxes in freshwater and benthic ecosystems, but two to three orders of magnitude lower in terrestrial systems, demonstrating different dependencies on spatial flows among ecosystem types. The strong spatial couplings also indicate that ecosystems are vulnerable to alterations of cross-ecosystem flows. Thus, a reconsideration of ecosystem functioning, including a spatial perspective, is urgently needed.

Citing Articles

Ecosystem Size Mediates the Effects of Resource Flows on Species Diversity and Ecosystem Function at Different Scales.

Giacomuzzo E, Peller T, Gounand I, Altermatt F Ecol Evol. 2024; 14(12):e70709.

PMID: 39691433 PMC: 11650751. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.70709.

Towards (better) fluvial meta-ecosystem ecology: a research perspective.

Talluto L, Campo R, Estevez E, Altermatt F, Datry T, Singer G NPJ Biodivers. 2024; 3(1):3.

PMID: 39050515 PMC: 11263126. DOI: 10.1038/s44185-023-00036-0.

Evolutionary ecology of dispersal in biodiverse spatially structured systems: what is old and what is new?.

Fronhofer E, Bonte D, Bestion E, Cote J, Deshpande J, Duncan A Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2024; 379(1907):20230142.

PMID: 38913061 PMC: 11391287. DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2023.0142.

Spatial synchrony cascades across ecosystem boundaries and up food webs via resource subsidies.

Walter J, Emery K, Dugan J, Hubbard D, Bell T, Sheppard L Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2024; 121(2):e2310052120.

PMID: 38165932 PMC: 10786303. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2310052120.

Environmental DNA: The First Snapshot of the Vertebrate Biodiversity in Three Sicilian Lakes.

Mauro M, Lo Valvo M, Vazzana M, Radovic S, Vizzini A, Badalamenti R Animals (Basel). 2023; 13(23).

PMID: 38067038 PMC: 10705119. DOI: 10.3390/ani13233687.

References

Bartels P, Cucherousset J, Steger K, Eklov P, Tranvik L, Hillebrand H . Reciprocal subsidies between freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems structure consumer resource dynamics. Ecology. 2012; 93(5):1173-82. DOI: 10.1890/11-1210.1. View

Navedo J, Hahn S, Parejo M, Abad-Gomez J, Gutierrez J, Villegas A . Unravelling trophic subsidies of agroecosystems for biodiversity conservation: food consumption and nutrient recycling by waterbirds in Mediterranean rice fields. Sci Total Environ. 2015; 511:288-97. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.12.068. View

Doughty C, Roman J, Faurby S, Wolf A, Haque A, Bakker E . Global nutrient transport in a world of giants. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015; 113(4):868-73. PMC: 4743783. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1502549112. View

Allen D, Wesner J . Synthesis: comparing effects of resource and consumer fluxes into recipient food webs using meta-analysis. Ecology. 2016; 97(3):594-604. View

Halpern B, Walbridge S, Selkoe K, Kappel C, Micheli F, DAgrosa C . A global map of human impact on marine ecosystems. Science. 2008; 319(5865):948-52. DOI: 10.1126/science.1149345. View

Gravel D, Guichard F, Loreau M, Mouquet N . Source and sink dynamics in meta-ecosystems. Ecology. 2010; 91(7):2172-84. DOI: 10.1890/09-0843.1. View

Gounand I, Harvey E, Little C, Altermatt F . Meta-Ecosystems 2.0: Rooting the Theory into the Field. Trends Ecol Evol. 2017; 33(1):36-46. DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2017.10.006. View

Elser J, Fagan W, Denno R, Dobberfuhl D, Folarin A, Huberty A . Nutritional constraints in terrestrial and freshwater food webs. Nature. 2000; 408(6812):578-80. DOI: 10.1038/35046058. View

Jeltsch F, Bonte D, Peer G, Reineking B, Leimgruber P, Balkenhol N . Integrating movement ecology with biodiversity research - exploring new avenues to address spatiotemporal biodiversity dynamics. Mov Ecol. 2015; 1(1):6. PMC: 4337763. DOI: 10.1186/2051-3933-1-6. View

10.

Garonna I, de Jong R, de Wit A, Mucher C, Schmid B, Schaepman M . Strong contribution of autumn phenology to changes in satellite-derived growing season length estimates across Europe (1982-2011). Glob Chang Biol. 2014; 20(11):3457-70. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.12625. View

11.

Imhoff M, Bounoua L, Ricketts T, Loucks C, Harriss R, Lawrence W . Global patterns in human consumption of net primary production. Nature. 2004; 429(6994):870-3. DOI: 10.1038/nature02619. View

12.

Vorosmarty C, McIntyre P, Gessner M, Dudgeon D, Prusevich A, Green P . Global threats to human water security and river biodiversity. Nature. 2010; 467(7315):555-61. DOI: 10.1038/nature09440. View

13.

Leroux S, Loreau M . Subsidy hypothesis and strength of trophic cascades across ecosystems. Ecol Lett. 2008; 11(11):1147-1156. DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01235.x. View

14.

Harvey E, Gounand I, Little C, Fronhofer E, Altermatt F . Upstream trophic structure modulates downstream community dynamics via resource subsidies. Ecol Evol. 2017; 7(15):5724-5731. PMC: 5655794. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.3144. View

15.

Gratton C, Vander Zanden M . Flux of aquatic insect productivity to land: comparison of lentic and lotic ecosystems. Ecology. 2009; 90(10):2689-99. DOI: 10.1890/08-1546.1. View

16.

Bauer S, Hoye B . Migratory animals couple biodiversity and ecosystem functioning worldwide. Science. 2014; 344(6179):1242552. DOI: 10.1126/science.1242552. View

17.

Griffiths J, Kadin M, Nascimento F, Tamelander T, Tornroos A, Bonaglia S . The importance of benthic-pelagic coupling for marine ecosystem functioning in a changing world. Glob Chang Biol. 2017; 23(6):2179-2196. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.13642. View

18.

Marczak L, Thompson R, Richardson J . Meta-analysis: trophic level, habitat, and productivity shape the food web effects of resource subsidies. Ecology. 2007; 88(1):140-8. DOI: 10.1890/0012-9658(2007)88[140:mtlhap]2.0.co;2. View

19.

Cole J, Carpenter S, Pace M, Van de Bogert M, Kitchell J, Hodgson J . Differential support of lake food webs by three types of terrestrial organic carbon. Ecol Lett. 2006; 9(5):558-68. DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2006.00898.x. View

20.

Gounand I, Mouquet N, Canard E, Guichard F, Hauzy C, Gravel D . The paradox of enrichment in metaecosystems. Am Nat. 2014; 184(6):752-63. DOI: 10.1086/678406. View