Nutrient excretion rates of common aquatic taxa in high elevation ponds at the Mexican Cut
Abstract
Nutrient cycling is crucial for proper functioning of aquatic ecosystems. Animals play an integral part of this process, especially in nutrient poor ecosystems such as the high elevation ponds at the Mexican Cut Nature Preserve. Nutrients such as nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are both limiting nutrients, and animal excretion increases the availability of these nutrients. We measured the excretion rates of common aquatic macroinvertebrates and the demand for nutrients in these pond ecosystems. We found excretion rates in aquatic macroinvertebrate taxa varied over several orders of magnitude for both nitrogen and phosphorus. It appeared that smaller taxa had higher mass-specific excretion rates, but we did not test these differences statistically. We compared nutrient demand between permanent and semi-permanent pond types, but did not observe any significant difference between the two. The macroinvertebrate community contributed significantly to pond N and P demand. Phosphorus contribution ranged from 25.5% to 67.7%, while macroinvertebrates contributed over 100% of N demand in all but one pond and as much as 352% of demand in one case. These results demonstrate the importance of these macroinvertebrate communities to nutrient cycling, and the potential consequences that climate driven changes in community composition could have on ecosystem functioning in these ponds.
Local Knowledge Graph (11 entities)
Related Works
Items connected by shared entities, co-authorship, citations, or semantic similarity.
Nutrient availability and phytoplankton nutrient limitation across a gradient of atmospheric nitrogen deposition
Influence of handling stress and fasting on estimates of ammonium excretion by tadpoles and fish: recommendations for designing excretion experiments
Animal-Driven Nutrient Supply Declines Relative to Ecosystem Nutrient Demand Along a Pond Hydroperiod Gradient
Bedrock weathering rates, reactive nitrogen influxes and effluxes, and nitrous oxide emissions rates from the Pumphouse Hillslope, East River Watershed, Colorado.
Data from: Short-term, low-level nitrogen deposition dampens a trophic cascade between bears and plants
Data from: Biotic and abiotic variables influencing plant litter breakdown in streams: a global study
A New Hydrologic Perspective of How Beaver Ponds Function
Beaver Pond Ecosystems and Their Relationships to Multi-Use Natural Resource Management
Effect of Keystone Mine Effluent on Colonization of Stream Benthos
References (14)
3 in Knowledge Hub, 11 external