Predators Accelerate Nutrient Cycling in a Bromeliad Ecosystem
- 10 November 2006
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Science
- Vol. 314 (5801), 963
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1132598
Abstract
Conventional ecological theory predicts that predators affect nutrient cycling by decreasing the abundance or activity of prey. By using a predator-detritivore-detritus food chain in bromeliads, we show that predators can increase nutrient cycling by a previously undescribed, but broadly applicable, mechanism: reducing nutrient export by prey emigration. Contrary to expectations, predation on detritivores increases detrital nitrogen uptake by bromeliads. Predation reduces detritivore emergence and hence export of nitrogen from the system. Detritivores therefore benefit their host plant, but only when predators are present. More generally, our results show that predator loss or extinction can dramatically and unexpectedly affect ecosystem functioning.Keywords
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