Wild ungulates and cattle have different effects on litter decomposition
as revealed by fecal addition in a Northeast Asian temperate forest
Abstract
In forest ecosystems, litter decomposition is essential to sustaining
productivity and nutrient cycling. Large herbivores are crucial in
determining the processes of nutrient cycling. The temperate woods of
Asia are growing more and more damaged and broken up by the widespread
increase in human activity, including excessive livestock grazing.
However, less research has been done on the impact of wild ungulates and
cattle on the decomposition of forest litter. In this study, the effects
of adding cattle and sika deer (Cervus nippon) feces to litter
decomposition were examined using a litterbag experiment. Northeastern
China was the study’s location from July 2022 to October 2023. We found
that the addition of deer feces significantly reduced litter
decomposition, but the addition of cattle feces greatly increased litter
decomposition. The presence of cattle and deer excrement significantly
accelerated the release of C after one year of litter decomposition.
Compared with the results of the control group (no addition of feces),
the addition of cattle and sika deer feces increased C release by
37.45% and 22.69%, respectively. Fecal addition increased the release
of N; however, for the three treatment groups, the maximum accumulation
of N occurred in the middle of litter decomposition, which may have been
due to the initial chemical quality of the leaves and snow melt as well
as nutrient limitations at the sites. Compared with the results of the
control group, P release in the feces of cattle increased by 4.35%, but
P release in the feces of deer decreased by 27.55%. Our findings
demonstrate that broad-scale patterns of nitrogen cycling should be
closely monitored for the consequences of fecal deposition by an excess
of large livestock and ungulates in forests.