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Background insect herbivory increases with local elevation but makes minor contribution to element cycling along natural gradients in the Subarctic
  • Jeppe Kristensen ,
  • Anders Michelsen,
  • Dan Metcalfe
Jeppe Kristensen
Lund University

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Anders Michelsen
University of Copenhagen
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Dan Metcalfe
Lund University
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Abstract

Herbivores can exert major controls over biogeochemical cycling. As invertebrates are highly sensitive to their environment (ectothermal), the abundances of insects in high-latitude systems, where climate warming is rapid, is expected to increase. In subarctic mountain birch forests research has focussed on geometrid moth outbreaks, while the contribution of background insect herbivory (BIH) to elemental cycling is poorly constrained. In northern Sweden, we estimated BIH along 9 elevational gradients distributed across a gradient in regional elevation, temperature and precipitation to allow evaluation of consistency in local vs. regional variation. We converted foliar loss via BIH to fluxes of C, nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) from the birch canopy to the soil to compare with other relevant soil inputs of the same elements, and assessed different abiotic and biotic drivers of the observed variability. We found that leaf area loss due to BIH was ~1.6% on average. This is comparable to estimates from tundra, but considerably lower than ecosystems at lower latitudes. The C, N and P fluxes from canopy to soil associated with BIH were 1-2 orders of magnitude lower than the soil input from senesced litter and external nutrient sources such as biological N fixation, atmospheric deposition of N and P weathering estimated from the literature. Hence, despite the minor contribution to overall elemental cycling in subarctic birch forests, the higher quality and earlier timing of the input of herbivore deposits to soils compared to senesced litter may make this contribution disproportionally important for various ecosystem functions. BIH increased significantly with leaf N-content as well as local elevation along each transect, yet showed no significant relationship with temperature or humidity, nor the commonly used temperature proxy, absolute elevation. The lacking consistency between the local and regional elevational trends calls for caution when using elevation gradients as climate proxies.
04 Jun 2020Submitted to Ecology and Evolution
08 Jun 2020Submission Checks Completed
08 Jun 2020Assigned to Editor
11 Jun 2020Reviewer(s) Assigned
14 Jun 2020Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
15 Jun 2020Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
22 Aug 20201st Revision Received
24 Aug 2020Submission Checks Completed
24 Aug 2020Assigned to Editor
24 Aug 2020Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
27 Aug 2020Editorial Decision: Accept
Oct 2020Published in Ecology and Evolution volume 10 issue 20 on pages 11684-11698. 10.1002/ece3.6803