Gopher mounds decrease nutrient cycling rates and increase adjacent vegetation in volcanic primary succession

Abstract

Fossorial mammals may affect nutrient dynamics and vegetation in recently initiated primary successional ecosystems differently than in more developed systems because of strong C and N limitation to primary productivity and microbial communities. We investigated northern pocket gopher (Thomomys talpoides) effects on soil nutrient dynamics, soil physical properties, and plant communities on surfaces created by Mount St. Helens' 1980 eruption. For comparison to later successional systems, we summarized published studies on gopher effects on soil C and N and plant communities. In 2010, 18 years after gopher colonization, we found that gophers were active in ~2.5% of the study area and formed ~328 mounds ha(-1). Mounds exhibited decreased species density compared to undisturbed areas, while plant abundance on mound margins increased 77%. Plant burial increased total soil carbon (TC) by 13% and nitrogen (TN) by 11%, compared to undisturbed soils. Mound crusts decreased water infiltration, likely explaining the lack of detectable increases in rates of NO3-N, NH4-N or PO4-P leaching out of the rooting zone or in CO2 flux rates. We concluded that plant burial and reduced infiltration on gopher mounds may accelerate soil carbon accumulation, facilitate vegetation development at mound edges through resource concentration and competitive release, and increase small-scale heterogeneity of soils and communities across substantial sections of the primary successional landscape. Our review indicated that increases in TC, TN and plant density at mound margins contrasted with later successional systems, likely due to differences in physical effects and microbial resources between primary successional and older systems.