This study examines the extent to which above-ground trophic processes such as large carnivore predation on wild ungulates can cause cascading effects through the provision of carrion resources to below-ground ecosystem processes in the boreal forest of southeastern Norway. We measured the levels of 10 parameters in soil samples and 7 parameters in vegetation (wavy hair-grass, Avenella flexuosa, and bilberry, Vaccinium myrtillus) at 0, 0.5 and 2 m distance from 18 roe deer (Capreolus caprelous) carcasses killed by Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx). We then compared these values to two control sites 20 m away from each carcass. Sampling was conducted 20–29 months after death. Neither soil nor vegetation samples showed a clear gradient in parameters (CN, NH₄⁺, NO₃⁻, P, PO₄⁻, Ca, K, Mg and Na) from the center of a carcass towards the periphery. Similarly, there was no difference in the effect on soil and vegetation between winter- and summer-killed carcasses. Our results contrast with that of other studies that simulate the effect of predation with whole carcasses and which often exclude scavengers through fencing. The lack of detectable effects after about two years is likely due to the small size of roe deer carcasses and the fact that most tissues are consumed by the predator and scavengers before decomposition.

中文翻译：

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欧亚天猫捕食对Ro对土壤和植物养分的连锁反应缺乏

这项研究探讨了在挪威东南部的北方森林中，通过向地下生态系统过程提供腐肉资源，在地面上的营养过程（例如对野生有蹄类动物的大型食肉动物的捕食）可能导致级联效应的程度。我们在距被欧亚人杀死的18头（（Capreolus caprelous）car体的0、0.5和2 m距离处测量了土壤样品中的10个参数和植被（波浪状的毛草，弯曲小菜和越橘，越桔越桔）中的7个参数的水平天猫（Lynx lynx）。然后，我们将这些值与距离每个car体20 m的两个控制点进行比较。死亡后20–29个月进行采样。既不土壤也不植被样品表现出明显的梯度在参数（CN，NH ₄ ⁺，NO ₃ ^-，P，PO ₄ ^-，钙，钾，镁和钠）从center体的中心向外围延伸。同样，冬季和夏季杀死的car体对土壤和植被的影响也没有差异。我们的结果与其他研究的结果相反，其他研究模拟了整个whole体的捕食效果，并且经常通过围栏排除清道夫。大约两年后缺乏可检测到的影响可能是由于ro体的体积小以及大多数组织在被分解之前被捕食者和清除剂消耗的事实。