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Cited by 119Soil Carbon and Nitrogen DynamicsInsect-Plant Interactions and ControlIsotope Analysis in Ecology

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Recycling of nitrogen in herbivore feces: plant recovery, herbivore assimilation, soil retention, and leaching losses

Frost, Christopher J., Hunter, Mark D.·2007·Oecologia
DOI 10.1007/s00442-006-0579-9
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Abstract

Herbivores directly and indirectly affect ecosystem functioning in forests. Feces deposition is a direct effect that supplies ephemeral N pulses to soils. Herbivore-mediated changes in plant N allocation and uptake are indirect effects that can also influence soil N availability. These effects may interact if defoliation influences the ability of plants to recover fecal N, and this may affect subsequent generations of herbivores. We added (15)N-enriched insect feces (frass) to a series of replicated red oak, Quercus rubra, mesocosms that had been damaged experimentally and then followed the frass N over the course of 2 years. In the first season, some frass N was mineralized in the soil and leached in organic form from the mesocosms within 1 week of deposition. Within 1 month, frass N had been acquired by the oaks and enriched the foliage; late-season herbivores assimilated the frass N within the same growing season. In the second season, herbivore damage from the previous year lowered total leaf N contents and (15)N recovered in the foliage. A subsequent cohort of early-season herbivores fed on this foliage consequently derived less of their N from the previous year's frass, and feral leaf rollers colonized fewer of these saplings. The 0- to 5-cm soil fraction was the largest N sink measured, and 42% of the frass N was recovered in the soil. The results demonstrate that: (1) some frass N can be recycled rapidly into foliage and assimilated by successive cohorts of herbivore within the same season; (2) damage can affect N allocation in the following year's foliage, influencing N availability to and host selection by herbivores; and (3) leaching losses occur soon after deposition but are buffered by soil pools, which are the largest sinks for frass N.

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Metadata

Authors
Frost, C. J., & Hunter, M. D.
Affiliations
  • Pennsylvania State University (US)
  • University of Georgia (US)
Corresponding author
Frost, Christopher J.
ORCID
Venue
Oecologia
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2006-11-07
Volume
151
Issue
1
Pages
42-53
ISSN
  • 0029-8549 (ISSN-L)
  • 1432-1939
DOI
10.1007/s00442-006-0579-9
OpenAlex
W2094021972
Cited by
119
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 10
FWCI
5.57
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
Locations
  • Oecologia (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Insect Science › Insect-Plant Interactions and Control
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Isotope Analysis in Ecology
Keywords
nitrogen recycling, nitrogen leaching, soil nitrogen pools, Quercus rubra, defoliation, leaf nitrogen allocation, leafrollers, 15N tracer, nitrogen mineralization, plant-herbivore interactions, forest nutrient cycling
MeSH terms
Analysis of Variance, Animals, Feces, Georgia, Insecta, Nitrogen Isotopes, Soil, Mass Spectrometry, Ecosystem, Plant Leaves, Quercus

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