Biogeochemical decoupling: how, where and when?
- Published
- Accepted
- Subject Areas
- Ecosystem Science, Biogeochemistry
- Keywords
- stoichiometry, chemical elements, ecological effects, biogeochemical processes
- Copyright
- © 2018 Alvarez-Cobelas et al.
- Licence
- This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ Preprints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
- Cite this article
- 2018. Biogeochemical decoupling: how, where and when? PeerJ Preprints 6:e26478v1 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.26478v1
Abstract
Research has dealt with coupling of chemical element cycles and feedback in recent years. Sometimes, this biogeochemical coupling is reversed through abiotic or biotic (including man-made) processes. It is then called biogeochemical decoupling and is a disconnection between two chemical elements whereby transformations of one affect cycling of the other, and results in asynchronical behavior of chemical elements. It appears to be more important and widespread than earlier reports suggest, and gives rise to important changes in element stoichiometry of resources. These changes in turn modify organismal stoichiometry that, if great enough, can affect biodiversity and food webs, thus altering community structure and function. Biogeochemical decoupling then impinges on ecosystem dynamics and may impair ecosystem services.
Author Comment
This short opinion paper is focused on biogeochemical decoupling, a new concept describing those situations in which there is no coupling of element cycles and its feedback. Biogeochemical decoupling results in unbalanced ecosystem functions because it usually reduces the supply of elements needed to drive some biogeochemical processes. Given the increase in studies showing biogeochemical decoupling, it would seem to occur more often than previously thought and appears to be a widespread phenomenon in Nature. Although a few examples of specific cases have been reported to date, in this paper we show that biogeochemical decoupling may occur in most ecosystems but most ecological implications (from local to global scales) are still unknown. Biogeochemical decoupling deserves more attention in order to fully understand and its short- and long-term implications in the light of the global changes.