Year: 2025
Type: preprint
Abstract: Ecosystems carry memory, and that memory is recorded not only in climate and genetics, but also in the material remains of the dead.Foundation species-trees, grasses, corals, oysters-are central to ecosystem structure while alive, and their remains continue to influence ecological processes after death.Leveraging the U.S. Long Term Ecological Research Network, we conducted the first continental-scale exploration of how material legacies influence living foundation species across 10 ecosystems (half terrestrial, half marine).We show that material legacies consistently alter demographic processes, ranging from a 50% reduction to a 12-fold increase.The ubiquity of these postmortem influences reveal an underappreciated dimension of ecological memory that is critical in shaping pathways of community assembly, and ultimately the structures of ecological systems in an era of accelerating mortality.
Authors: Kai Kopecky, Kai L Kopecky, Ty Tuff, Jill F Johnstone, Max C N Castorani, Audrey Barker Plotkin, Jesse B Nippert, Christopher J Nytch, Steven C Pennings, John S Kominoski, Daniel C Reed, David M Bell, Aaron B. Shiels, Katharine N Suding
Institutions: Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Virginia, Harvard University, Kansas State University, University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras, University of Houston, Florida International University, US Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station
Language: English
Subfield: Nature and Landscape Conservation
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Life on land
Open Access status: gold
Awards: LTER V: Coastal Oligotrophic Ecosystems, Full Proposal: Environmental Data Science Innovation and Impact Lab (ESIIL): Accelerating Discovery by Fostering an Open and Diverse Earth Data Revolution, LTER: Coastal Oligotrophic Ecosystem Research, LTER: Long-Term Ecological Research at the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest (LTER8), LTER: Georgia Coastal Ecosystems - IV, LTER: MCR IV: Long-Term Dynamics of a Coral Reef Ecosystem, RAPID: Hurricane Irma: How do ecosystem perturbations interact to influence long-term resilience mechanisms?
OpenAlex ID: W4413919746