Zoogeochemistry: Alchemists of the wild.

Large wildlife, as a sort of "wild alchemists", redistribute and mobilize nutrients across and beyond the boundaries of ecosystems, turning dung into gold & engineering landscapes in ways that keep surprising scientists. These fascinating influences of wildlife on biogeochemical cycles are studied by Zoogeochemistry, an exciting new branch of biogeochemistry research. It is anchored in the premise that animals do not necessarily eat, defecate and die in the same place. As such they can deplete, replenish and transport chemical elements that are essential for life, such as carbon and nutrients, and thereby modify resource landscapes and entire ecosystems. The influence of wildlife on shaping nutrient landscapes is only just starting to attract attention, with recent case-studies revealing intriguing new patterns and insights. We aim to create the momentum necessary to bring zoogeochemistry into mainstream ecological research, and achieve a knowledge build-up that creates energy for the emergence of a critical mass of researchers in zoogeochemistry. Our overarching vision for this network is to create a platform for collaboration that will promote coordinated, multi-site research projects that will allow for student exchange between systems and participants, cross-disciplinary knowledge exchange and joint funding application development to scale up the impact and reach of zoogeochemistry research.

Keywords:NUTRIENTS, WILDLIFE ECOLOGY

Disciplines:Animal ecology, Global ecology, Biogeochemical cycli

Project type:Collaboration project