Ecoenzymatic Stoichiometry and Ecological Theory

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

Related collections

Most cited references 139

Record: found
Abstract: not found
Article: not found

C:N:P stoichiometry in soil: is there a “Redfield ratio” for the microbial biomass?

Cory Cleveland, Daniel Liptzin (2007)

0 comments Cited 541 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Environmental and stoichiometric controls on microbial carbon-use efficiency in soils.

Stefano Manzoni, Philip Taylor, Andreas Richter … (2012)

Carbon (C) metabolism is at the core of ecosystem function. Decomposers play a critical role in this metabolism as they drive soil C cycle by mineralizing organic matter to CO(2). Their growth depends on the carbon-use efficiency (CUE), defined as the ratio of growth over C uptake. By definition, high CUE promotes growth and possibly C stabilization in soils, while low CUE favors respiration. Despite the importance of this variable, flexibility in CUE for terrestrial decomposers is still poorly characterized and is not represented in most biogeochemical models. Here, we synthesize the theoretical and empirical basis of changes in CUE across aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, highlighting common patterns and hypothesizing changes in CUE under future climates. Both theoretical considerations and empirical evidence from aquatic organisms indicate that CUE decreases as temperature increases and nutrient availability decreases. More limited evidence shows a similar sensitivity of CUE to temperature and nutrient availability in terrestrial decomposers. Increasing CUE with improved nutrient availability might explain observed declines in respiration from fertilized stands, while decreased CUE with increasing temperature and plant C : N ratios might decrease soil C storage. Current biogeochemical models could be improved by accounting for these CUE responses along environmental and stoichiometric gradients. © 2012 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2012 New Phytologist Trust.

0 comments Cited 421 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Ecoenzymatic stoichiometry of microbial organic nutrient acquisition in soil and sediment.

Robert Sinsabaugh, Ami A Shah, Amy B. Hill (2009)

Biota can be described in terms of elemental composition, expressed as an atomic ratio of carbon:nitrogen:phosphorus (refs 1-3). The elemental stoichiometry of microoorganisms is fundamental for understanding the production dynamics and biogeochemical cycles of ecosystems because microbial biomass is the trophic base of detrital food webs. Here we show that heterotrophic microbial communities of diverse composition from terrestrial soils and freshwater sediments share a common functional stoichiometry in relation to organic nutrient acquisition. The activities of four enzymes that catalyse the hydrolysis of assimilable products from the principal environmental sources of C, N and P show similar scaling relationships over several orders of magnitude, with a mean ratio for C:N:P activities near 1:1:1 in all habitats. We suggest that these ecoenzymatic ratios reflect the equilibria between the elemental composition of microbial biomass and detrital organic matter and the efficiencies of microbial nutrient assimilation and growth. Because ecoenzymatic activities intersect the stoichiometric and metabolic theories of ecology, they provide a functional measure of the threshold at which control of community metabolism shifts from nutrient to energy flow.

0 comments Cited 334 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

All references

Author and article information

Journal

Title: Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics

Abbreviated Title: Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst.

Publisher: Annual Reviews

ISSN (Print): 1543-592X

ISSN (Electronic): 1545-2069

Publication date Created: December 2012

Publication date (Print): December 2012

Volume: 43

Issue: 1

Pages: 313-343

Article

DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-071112-124414

SO-VID: b620a044-4c8e-43d1-8216-d3b29e55abe6

History

Data availability:

Comments

Comment on this article

scite_

Smart Citations

Citing PublicationsSupportingMentioningContrasting

View Citations

See how this article has been cited at scite.ai

scite shows how a scientific paper has been cited by providing the context of the citation, a classification describing whether it supports, mentions, or contrasts the cited claim, and a label indicating in which section the citation was made.