DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Warming reverses top-down effects of predators on belowground ecosystem function in Arctic tundra

Journal Article · · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [3]
  1. Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130,, Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708,
  2. The Rubenstein School of Environment &, Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405,, The Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405
  3. Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708,

Significance Organisms’ responses to climate change can result in altered species interactions, with cascading effects on communities and ecosystems. Understanding these processes is especially relevant in the rapidly warming Arctic, where faster decomposition of stored soil carbon is expected to result in positive carbon feedbacks to the atmosphere. We provide evidence that warmer temperatures alter the cascading effects of wolf spiders, an abundant and widespread predator, on ecosystem functioning. Specifically, we find that warming tends to reverse the effect of high spider densities on fungal-feeding Collembola and ultimately leads to slower decomposition rates. Our work demonstrates that climate change can alter the nature of predator effects on decomposition, resulting in unexpected changes in ecosystem function with potentially important global implications.

Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0010562
OSTI ID:
1461247
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1501423
Journal Information:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Journal Name: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Journal Issue: 32 Vol. 115; ISSN 0027-8424
Publisher:
Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (64)

Population- and ecosystem-level effects of predation on microbial-feeding nematodes journal August 1999
A test of the hierarchical model of litter decomposition journal November 2017
Spider foraging strategy affects trophic cascades under natural and drought conditions journal July 2015
Effects of experimental temperature elevation on high-arctic soil microarthropod populations journal February 1996
Productivity and Trophic-Level Biomasses in a Microbial-Based Soil Food Web journal May 1998
Metabolic costs of the predation strategy of the spider Pardosa amentata (Clerck) (Lycosidae) journal January 1977
Highly consistent effects of plant litter identity and functional traits on decomposition across a latitudinal gradient journal June 2012
Global change and species interactions in terrestrial ecosystems journal December 2008
Sensitivity of the carbon cycle in the Arctic to climate change journal November 2009
Species Interactions Reverse Grassland Responses to Changing Climate journal February 2007
Climate change and sexual size dimorphism in an Arctic spider journal April 2009
No detectable trophic cascade in a high-Arctic arthropod food web journal November 2015
The importance of intraguild predation in predicting emergent multiple predator effects journal October 2014
What Determines the Strength of a Trophic Cascade? journal February 2005
Predators have Large Effects on Ecosystem Properties by Changing Plant Diversity, not Plant Biomass journal June 2006
Clutch Size in Spiders: Is More Better? journal February 1994
Tight coupling between leaf area index and foliage N content in arctic plant communities journal November 2004
Warming effects on consumption and intraspecific interference competition depend on predator metabolism: Temperature effects on interference competition journal November 2011
Arthropod Regulation of Micro- and Mesobiota in Below-Ground Detrital Food Webs journal January 1988
Fear of predation alters soil carbon dioxide flux and nitrogen content journal June 2014
Vulnerability of Permafrost Carbon to Climate Change: Implications for the Global Carbon Cycle journal September 2008
Contrasting Trophic Cascades Generated by a Community of Generalist Predators journal June 2001
Phylogenetic reconstruction of the wolf spiders (Araneae: Lycosidae) using sequences from the 12S rRNA, 28S rRNA, and NADH1 genes: Implications for classification, biogeography, and the evolution of web building behavior journal March 2006
CLIMATE CHANGE: Permafrost and the Global Carbon Budget journal June 2006
Utilization of prey from the decomposer system by generalist predators of grassland journal December 2007
Ecosystem carbon storage in arctic tundra reduced by long-term nutrient fertilization journal September 2004
Soil organic carbon pools in the northern circumpolar permafrost region: SOIL ORGANIC CARBON POOLS journal June 2009
Long-term warming restructures Arctic tundra without changing net soil carbon storage journal May 2013
Metabolic and trophic interactions modulate methane production by Arctic peat microbiota in response to warming journal April 2015
The nature of spatial transitions in the Arctic journal December 2004
Rainfall and hydrological stability alter the impact of top predators on food web structure and function journal July 2016
Integrated Regional Changes in Arctic Climate Feedbacks: Implications for the Global Climate System journal November 2006
Water availability directly determines per capita consumption at two trophic levels journal June 2009
Temperature and prey capture: opposite relationships in two predator taxa journal April 2008
Arctic arthropod assemblages in habitats of differing shrub dominance journal February 2013
Unexpected indirect effect of spiders on the rate of litter disappearance in a deciduous forest journal March 2004
Terrestrial Trophic Cascades: How Much Do They Trickle? journal March 2001
Functional shifts of grassland soil communities in response to soil warming journal February 2009
Extensive niche overlap among the dominant arthropod predators of the High Arctic journal February 2015
Short-term herbivory has long-term consequences in warmed and ambient high Arctic tundra journal January 2017
Traits explain the responses of a sub-arctic Collembola community to climate manipulation journal February 2011
Global decomposition experiment shows soil animal impacts on decomposition are climate-dependent: SOIL FAUNA IMPACTS ON GLOBAL DECOMPOSITION journal June 2008
Top-Down is Bottom-Up: does Predation in the Rhizosphere Regulate Aboveground Dynamics? journal April 2003
Global Change and Arctic Ecosystems: Conclusions and Predictions from Experiments with Terrestrial Invertebrates on Spitsbergen journal August 1998
Bacterial and fungal abundance and biomass in conventional and no-tillage agroecosystems along two climatic gradients journal April 1999
Predator contributions to belowground responses to warming journal September 2016
Effects on the Structure of Arctic Ecosystems in the Short- and Long-term Perspectives journal November 2004
Community and ecosystem responses to recent climate change journal July 2010
Ecosystem feedbacks and cascade processes: understanding their role in the responses of Arctic and alpine ecosystems to environmental change journal May 2009
Spider predation on forest-floor Collembola and evidence for indirect effects on decomposition journal January 2000
Large predators and trophic cascades in terrestrial ecosystems of the western United States journal November 2009
Wandering spiders limit densities of a major microbi-detritivore in the forest-floor food web journal March 2004
Plants and generalist predators as links between the below-ground and above-ground system journal January 2001
Combined effects of elevated temperatures and reduced leaf litter quality on the life-history parameters of a saprophagous macroarthropod journal January 2009
Fear of Predation Slows Plant-Litter Decomposition journal June 2012
Soil fungi: Relationships between hyphal activity and staining with fluorescein diacetate journal January 1984
Microorganisms and climate change: terrestrial feedbacks and mitigation options journal October 2010
Predicted climate change alters the indirect effect of predators on an ecosystem process journal October 2006
Impacts of Grazing and Climate Warming on C Pools and Decomposition Rates in Arctic Environments journal January 2012
The Circumpolar Arctic vegetation map journal February 2005
Large herbivores limit CO2 uptake and suppress carbon cycle responses to warming in West Greenland journal September 2011
The freezer defrosting: global warming and litter decomposition rates in cold biomes journal May 2006
Terrestrial Ecosystems at Toolik Lake, Alaska book March 2014
Intra-guild predation relaxes natural enemy impacts on herbivore populations journal February 2003