SREL Reprint #3492

Necrobiome framework for bridging decomposition ecology of autotrophically and heterotrophically derived organic matter

M. Eric Benbow1,2,3, Philip S. Barton4, Michael D. Ulyshen5, James C. Beasley6, Travis L. DeVault7,
Michael S. Strickland8, Jeffery K. Tomberlin9, Heather R. Jordan10, and Jennifer L. Pechal1

1Department of Entomology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824 USA
2Department of Osteopathic Medical Specialties, Michigan State University,
East Lansing, Michigan 48824 USA
3Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior Program, Michigan State University,
East Lansing, Michigan 48824 USA
4Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University,
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601 Australia
5USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Athens, Georgia 30602 USA
6Savannah River Ecology Laboratory and Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources,
University of Georgia, Aiken, South Carolina 29802 USA
7U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Wildlife Research Center, Sandusky, Ohio 44870 USA
8Department of Soil & Water Systems, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 83844 USA
9Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843 USA
10Department of Biological Sciences, Mississippi State University, Mississippi, Mississippi 39762 USA

Abstract: Decomposition contributes to global ecosystem function by contributing to nutrient recycling, energy flow, and limiting biomass accumulation. The decomposer organisms influencing this process form diverse, complex, and highly dynamic communities that often specialize on different plant or animal resources. Despite performing the same net role, there is a need to conceptually synthesize information on the structure and function of decomposer communities across the spectrum of dead plant and animal resources. A lack of synthesis has limited cross-disciplinary learning and research in important areas of ecosystem and community ecology. Here we expound on the “necrobiome” concept and develop a framework describing the decomposer communities and their interactions associated with plant and animal resource types within multiple ecosystems.We outline the biotic structure and ecological functions of the necrobiome, along with how the necrobiome fits into a broader landscape and ecosystem context. The expanded necrobiome model provides a set of perspectives on decomposer communities across resource types, and conceptually unifies plant and animal decomposer communities into the same framework, while acknowledging key differences in processes and mechanisms. This framework is intended to raise awareness among researchers, and advance the construction of explicit, mechanistic hypotheses that further our understanding of decomposer community contributions to biodiversity, the structure and function of ecosystems, global nutrient recycling and energy flow.

Keywords: biodiversity; carrion; community assembly; decomposition; detritus; ecosystem; interactions; litter; microbial ecology; nutrient cycling; organic matter

SREL Reprint #3492

Benbow, M. E., P. S. Barton, M. D. Ulyshen, J. C. Beasley, T. L. DeVault, M. S. Strickland, J. K. Tomberlin, H. R. Jordan, and J. L. Pechal. 2019. Necrobiome framework for bridging decomposition ecology of autotrophically and heterotrophically derived organic matter. Ecological Monographs 89(1): e01331.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).