Stoichiometry of benthic invertebrate nutrient recycling: interspecific variation and the role of body mass |
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Authors: | João M Alves Adriano Caliman Rafael D Guariento Marcos P Figueiredo-Barros Luciana S Carneiro Vinicius F Farjalla Reinaldo L Bozelli Francisco A Esteves |
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Institution: | 1.Departamento de Biologia, Escola de Ciências,Universidade do Minho,Braga,Portugal;2.Laboratório de Limnologia, Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia,Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, CCS, Cidade Universitária,Rio de Janeiro,Brazil;3.Núcleo de Pesquisas em Ecologia e Desenvolvimento Sócio Ambiental de Macaé,Rodovia Amaral Peixoto,Macaé,Brazil;4.Departamento de Botanica, Ecologia e Zoologia, Centro de Biociências,Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte,Natal,Brazil |
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Abstract: | Ecological stoichiometry (ES) and allometry offer frameworks for predicting how nutrient recycling varies within and among
animal species. Despite the importance of benthic-derived nutrients in most aquatic systems, predictions based on ES and allometry
have been poorly tested among benthic invertebrate consumers. Here, we show that the rates and ratios at which three freshwater
benthic invertebrate species (a crustacean, an insect, and a polychaeta) recycled nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) can be partially
predicted by ES and allometry depending on whether data are analyzed intra- or interspecifically. Mass-specific N and P excretion
rates were negatively correlated with invertebrate body size both among and within taxa, supporting allometric predictions.
However, mass-specific N and P excretion rates were positively and negatively correlated to invertebrate body N and P, respectively,
but only when data were analyzed intraspecifically. As a corollary, the mass-specific N:P excretion ratio was positively related
to body N:P ratio. Such a contrasting pattern on excretion-mediated N and P recycling suggests that stoichiometric constraints
regarding consumer-resource imbalances for the three species utilized in this study may be stronger for P than for N. Our
results indicate that the variation in nutrient recycling, which is mediated by taxonomic constraints on stoichiometry and
allometry, may substantially help us to understand the importance of benthic detritivorous species to the functioning of aquatic
ecosystems. |
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