4.5 Article

Effects of subsidy quality on reciprocal subsidies: how leaf litter species changes frog biomass export

Journal

OECOLOGIA
Volume 175, Issue 1, Pages 209-218

Publisher

SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s00442-013-2870-x

Keywords

Leaf litter; Tannins; Allochthonous; Detritus; Amphibian larvae

Categories

Funding

  1. Life Sciences Fellowship
  2. TWA Scholarship
  3. MU Conservation Biology Fellowship
  4. US EPA STAR Fellowship
  5. National Science Foundation Undergraduate Mentoring in Environmental Biology program
  6. National Science Foundation
  7. US Department of Homeland Security
  8. US Department of Agriculture through NSF Award [EF-0832858]
  9. University of Tennessee, Knoxville
  10. Direct For Biological Sciences
  11. Div Of Biological Infrastructure [1300426] Funding Source: National Science Foundation

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Spatial subsidies are resources transferred from one ecosystem to another and which can greatly affect recipient systems. Increased subsidy quantity is known to increase these effects, but subsidy quality is likely also important. We examined the effects of leaf litter quality (varying in nutrient and tannin content) in pond mesocosms on gray treefrog (Hyla versicolor) biomass export, as well as water quality and ecosystem processes. We used litter from three different tree species native to Missouri [white oak (Quercus alba), northern red oak (Quercus rubra), and sugar maple (Acer saccharum)], one non-native tree [white pine (Pinus strobus)], and a common aquatic grass [prairie cordgrass (Spartina pectinata)]. We found that leaf litter species affected almost every variable we measured. Gray treefrog biomass export was greatest in mesocosms with grass litter and lowest with white oak litter. Differences in biomass export were affected by high tannin concentrations (or possibly the correlated variable, dissolved oxygen) via their effects on survival, and by primary production, which altered mean body mass. Effects of litter species could often be traced back to the characteristics of the litter itself: leaf nitrogen, phosphorus, and tannin content, which highlights the importance of plant functional traits in affecting aquatic ecosystems. This work and others stress that changes in forest species composition could greatly influence aquatic systems and aquatic-terrestrial linkages.

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