Leakage of Nutrients Into The Soil Due to Carrion Decomposition Can Enhance Plant Growth

Abstract

Carrion decomposition has potentially far-reaching effects on nutrient cycles. Recent studies have demonstrated changes in soil-nutrient dynamics and enhanced plant growth because of nutrient leakage from decomposing carrion. However, only macronutrients have been evaluated so far, overlooking effects on a wide range of other essential or ecotoxic elements. This study aimed to examine how leakage affects the chemical composition of soil below decomposing carrion for a wide range of chemical elements, and how this in turn affects plant growth. We performed an experiment in which we let carrion fluid leak from dead mice for different periods of time and measured 22 elemental concentrations in the soils underneath. Then, we grew F1 maize plants on these soils and measured plant biomass. We found that leakage elevated concentrations of 13 essential elements (C, Ca, Co, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, P, Se, and Zn) beneath the carrion. None of the potential ecotoxic elements turned out significant. Plant growth was up to nine times higher in soils enriched by carrion fluid. Our results demonstrate that a wide range of chemical elements leak into the soil as result of carrion decomposition, in concentrations that enhanced net plant growth. Our study must be considered as a first step towards a more comprehensive approach for investigating elemental leakage in the soil due to carrion decomposition. Further research may consider larger carcasses, more comprehensively examine the effects of multiple elements on plant growth, and examine how factors like scavenger activity, which may intercept carrion before elemental leakage can happen, affects leakage into the soil.

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