Additional Funding Sources
The project described was supported by NSF funding under NSF DEB 2054716 and a student grant from the UI Office of Undergraduate Research.
Abstract
Top scavengers are essential to food web structure, and their declines have cascading effects on trophic levels below them. Tasmanian devils are critical scavengers endemic to the island of Tasmania. A highly transmissible and extremely lethal cancer (devil facial tumor disease; DFTD) is threatening devil populations across roughly 95% of their habitat. The east to west spread of this disease since 1996 provides a rare opportunity to test how the decline of top scavengers affects the rate of nutrient cycling from carcasses to soils and whether these dynamics shift microbial community composition and ecosystem function. Soil samples from nineteen sites spanning the devil-density gradient will be tested to evaluate (1) how scavenger density impacts soil biogeochemistry and nutrient cycling; and (2) whether scavenger decline alters microbial community structure and function. DNA will be extracted from the soil to characterize the diversity and functional potential of bacterial and fungal communities. Additional techniques will quantify how biogeochemical properties change across the DFTD disease gradient. Statistical analyses will be conducted to determine the effect that scavengers have on ecosystem structure and function which is an important area of research that has not been widely explored.
Exploring the Role of Scavenger Declines on Soil Microbial Function
Top scavengers are essential to food web structure, and their declines have cascading effects on trophic levels below them. Tasmanian devils are critical scavengers endemic to the island of Tasmania. A highly transmissible and extremely lethal cancer (devil facial tumor disease; DFTD) is threatening devil populations across roughly 95% of their habitat. The east to west spread of this disease since 1996 provides a rare opportunity to test how the decline of top scavengers affects the rate of nutrient cycling from carcasses to soils and whether these dynamics shift microbial community composition and ecosystem function. Soil samples from nineteen sites spanning the devil-density gradient will be tested to evaluate (1) how scavenger density impacts soil biogeochemistry and nutrient cycling; and (2) whether scavenger decline alters microbial community structure and function. DNA will be extracted from the soil to characterize the diversity and functional potential of bacterial and fungal communities. Additional techniques will quantify how biogeochemical properties change across the DFTD disease gradient. Statistical analyses will be conducted to determine the effect that scavengers have on ecosystem structure and function which is an important area of research that has not been widely explored.