Large herbivores can have substantial effects on carbon (C) cycling, yet these animals are often overlooked in C budgets. Zoogeochemical effects may be particularly important in boreal forests, where diverse human activities are facilitating the expansion of large herbivore populations. Here, we argue that considering trophic dynamics is necessary to understand spatiotemporal variability in boreal forest C budgets. We propose a research agenda to scale local studies to landscape extents to measure the zoogeochemical impacts of large herbivores on boreal forest C cycling. Distributed networks of exclosure experiments, empirical studies across gradients in large herbivore abundance, multiscale models using herbivore distribution data, and remote sensing paired with empirical data will provide comprehensive accounting of C source–sink dynamics in boreal forests.

大型食草动物会对碳（C）循环产生重大影响，但这些动物通常在碳预算中被忽略。动物地理化学作用在北方森林中可能尤其重要，在北方森林中，各种人类活动正在促进大型食草动物种群的扩展。在这里，我们认为考虑营养动力学是理解北方森林C预算时空变化的必要条件。我们提出了一项研究议程，以将本地研究扩展到景观范围，以测量大型食草动物对北方森林C循环的动物地球化学影响。分布式实验网，大型食草动物丰富度的梯度实证研究，使用食草动物分布数据的多尺度模型，