"Animals and the zoogeochemistry of elemental cycling in local and meta-ecosystems", Shawn Leroux, Professor, Department of Biology Memorial University of Newfoundland
Source: BRS series
Abstract: It is generally assumed that it is sufficient to characterize elemental cycling in terms of uptake and exchange between ecosystem plant and soil pools and the atmosphere. In this talk, I argue that animals play an important role in ecosystem elemental cycling. By moving across landscapes, animals create a dynamism that shapes landscape-scale variation in elemental storage. Predicting and measuring elemental cycling under such dynamism is an important scientific challenge. I begin by synthesizing current theory on the role of consumers in ecosystem elemental cycling. Then, I provide empirical evidence from spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana) and moose (Alces alces) on the island of Newfoundland, Canada to demonstrate the key role of consumers in elemental cycling within and across ecosystems. The integration of spatial ecosystem ecology, animal movement ecology, and remote sensing of habitats is a way forward for understanding and predicting animal impacts on elemental cycling across landscapes. Management and restoration of natural animal communities may also be an important nature-based solution to mitigate climate change.