Articles | Volume 16, issue 19
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3929-2019
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3929-2019
Research article
 | 
11 Oct 2019
Research article |  | 11 Oct 2019

Spatial changes in soil stable isotopic composition in response to carrion decomposition

Sarah W. Keenan, Sean M. Schaeffer, and Jennifer M. DeBruyn

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Cited articles

Aitkenhead-Peterson, J. A., Owings, C. G., Alexander, M. B., Larison, N., and Bytheway, J. A.: Mapping the lateral extent of human cadaver decomposition with soil chemistry, Forensic Sci. Int., 216, 127–134, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2011.09.007, 2012. 
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Baruzzi, C., Mason, D., and Lashley, M. A.: Effects of increasing carrion biomass on food webs, Food Webs, 16, e00096, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fooweb.2018.e00096, 2018. 
Belser, L. W. and Mays, E. L.: Specific inhibition of nitrite oxidation by chlorate and its use in assessing nitrification in soils and sediments, Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 39, 505–510, 1980. 
Billings, S. A. and Richter, D. D.: Changes in stable isotopic signatures of soil nitrogen and carbon during 40 years of forest development, Oecologia, 148, 325–333, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-006-0366-7, 2006. 
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Short summary
Decaying animals perturb soil biogeochemical cycles. Stable δ15N composition, which reflects the sum of all biogeochemical processes, increases during decay and persists for years. Enrichment following beaver decay persisted after at least 1 year, and was evident up to 10 cm depth and 60 cm from the decaying animals, beyond where soils were visibly impacted by decomposition. Nutrients sourced from decaying animals represent an integral and long–lived component of nitrogen cycling in soils.
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