Publication Date:
2022-05-25
Description:
Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2013. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Springer for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Ecosystems 17 (2014): 344-359, doi:10.1007/s10021-013-9715-7.
Description:
Understanding the biogeochemical processes regulating carbon cycling is central to mitigating
atmospheric CO2 emissions. The role of living organisms has been accounted for, but the focus
has traditionally been on contributions of plants and microbes. We develop the case that fully
“animating” the carbon cycle requires broader consideration of the functional role of animals in
mediating biogeochemical processes and quantification of their effects on carbon storage and
exchange among terrestrial and aquatic reservoirs and the atmosphere. To encourage more
hypothesis-driven experimental research that quantifies animal effects we discuss the mechanisms
by which animals may affect carbon exchanges and storage within and among ecosystems and the
atmosphere. We illustrate how those mechanisms lead to multiplier effects whose magnitudes
may rival those of more traditional carbon storage and exchange rate estimates currently used in
the carbon budget. Many animal species are already directly managed. Thus improved
quantitative understanding of their influence on carbon budgets may create opportunity for
management and policy to identify and implement new options for mitigating CO2 release at
regional scales.
Description:
We thank YCEI for its
sponsorship and funding. Regular and OPUS grants from US National Science Foundation,
grants from the UK Natural Environmental Research Council and UK Biotechnology and
Biological Sciences Research Council, and funding from the Nippon Foundation - UBC Nereus
Program, also supported our work.
Description:
2014-09-19
Keywords:
Animal mediation of carbon cycling
;
Animal multiplier effects
;
Animal management for carbon storage
;
Biogeochemical cycling
;
Regional carbon budgets
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Preprint
Format:
application/pdf
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