Taxonomic identity best explains variation in body nutrient stoichiometry in a diverse marine animal community

Abstract Animal-mediated nutrient dynamics are critical processes in ecosystems. Previous research has found animal-mediated nutrient supply (excretion) to be highly predictable based on allometric scaling, but similar efforts to find universal predictive relationships for an organism’s body nutrien...

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Autores principales: Jacob E. Allgeier, Seth Wenger, Craig A. Layman
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: Nature Portfolio 2020
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/73a4b8b8174e4b38bbefb7686e925bae
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:73a4b8b8174e4b38bbefb7686e925bae2021-12-02T18:50:59ZTaxonomic identity best explains variation in body nutrient stoichiometry in a diverse marine animal community10.1038/s41598-020-67881-y2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/73a4b8b8174e4b38bbefb7686e925bae2020-08-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-67881-yhttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Animal-mediated nutrient dynamics are critical processes in ecosystems. Previous research has found animal-mediated nutrient supply (excretion) to be highly predictable based on allometric scaling, but similar efforts to find universal predictive relationships for an organism’s body nutrient content have been inconclusive. We use a large dataset from a diverse tropical marine community to test three frameworks for predicting body nutrient content. We show that body nutrient content does not follow allometric scaling laws and that it is not well explained by trophic status. Instead, we find strong support for taxonomic identity (particularly at the family level) as a predictor of body nutrient content, indicating that evolutionary history plays a crucial role in determining an organism’s composition. We further find that nutrients are “stoichiometrically linked” (e.g., %C predicts %N), but that the direction of these relationships does not always conform to expectations, especially for invertebrates. Our findings demonstrate that taxonomic identity, not trophic status or body size, is the best baseline from which to predict organismal body nutrient content.Jacob E. AllgeierSeth WengerCraig A. LaymanNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 10, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2020)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Medicine
R
Science
Q
spellingShingle Medicine
R
Science
Q
Jacob E. Allgeier
Seth Wenger
Craig A. Layman
Taxonomic identity best explains variation in body nutrient stoichiometry in a diverse marine animal community
description Abstract Animal-mediated nutrient dynamics are critical processes in ecosystems. Previous research has found animal-mediated nutrient supply (excretion) to be highly predictable based on allometric scaling, but similar efforts to find universal predictive relationships for an organism’s body nutrient content have been inconclusive. We use a large dataset from a diverse tropical marine community to test three frameworks for predicting body nutrient content. We show that body nutrient content does not follow allometric scaling laws and that it is not well explained by trophic status. Instead, we find strong support for taxonomic identity (particularly at the family level) as a predictor of body nutrient content, indicating that evolutionary history plays a crucial role in determining an organism’s composition. We further find that nutrients are “stoichiometrically linked” (e.g., %C predicts %N), but that the direction of these relationships does not always conform to expectations, especially for invertebrates. Our findings demonstrate that taxonomic identity, not trophic status or body size, is the best baseline from which to predict organismal body nutrient content.
format article
author Jacob E. Allgeier
Seth Wenger
Craig A. Layman
author_facet Jacob E. Allgeier
Seth Wenger
Craig A. Layman
author_sort Jacob E. Allgeier
title Taxonomic identity best explains variation in body nutrient stoichiometry in a diverse marine animal community
title_short Taxonomic identity best explains variation in body nutrient stoichiometry in a diverse marine animal community
title_full Taxonomic identity best explains variation in body nutrient stoichiometry in a diverse marine animal community
title_fullStr Taxonomic identity best explains variation in body nutrient stoichiometry in a diverse marine animal community
title_full_unstemmed Taxonomic identity best explains variation in body nutrient stoichiometry in a diverse marine animal community
title_sort taxonomic identity best explains variation in body nutrient stoichiometry in a diverse marine animal community
publisher Nature Portfolio
publishDate 2020
url https://doaj.org/article/73a4b8b8174e4b38bbefb7686e925bae
work_keys_str_mv AT jacobeallgeier taxonomicidentitybestexplainsvariationinbodynutrientstoichiometryinadiversemarineanimalcommunity
AT sethwenger taxonomicidentitybestexplainsvariationinbodynutrientstoichiometryinadiversemarineanimalcommunity
AT craigalayman taxonomicidentitybestexplainsvariationinbodynutrientstoichiometryinadiversemarineanimalcommunity
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