DOI: 10.5061/dryad.kkwh70s8t
title: Data for: Predation and biophysical context control long-term carcass nutrient inputs in an Andean ecosystem

description: Animal carcass decomposition is an often-overlooked component of nutrient
 cycles. The importance of carcass decomposition for increasing nutrient
 availability has been demonstrated in several ecosystems, but impacts in
 arid lands are poorly understood. In a protected high desert landscape in
 Argentina, puma predation of vicuñas is a main driver of carcass
 distribution. Here, we sampled puma kill sites across three habitats
 (plains, canyons, and meadows) to evaluate the impacts of vicuña carcass
 and stomach decomposition on soil and plant nutrients up to 5 years after
 carcass deposition. Soil beneath both carcasses and stomachs had
 significantly higher soil nutrient content than adjacent reference sites
 in arid, nutrient-poor plains and canyons, but not in moist, nutrient-rich
 meadows. Stomachs had greater effects on soil nutrients than carcasses.
 However, we did detect higher plant N concentrations at kill sites. The
 biogeochemical effects of puma kills persisted for several years and
 increased over time, indicating that kills do not create ephemeral
 nutrient pulses, but can have lasting effects on the distribution of soil
 nutrients. Comparison to broader spatial patterns of predation risk
 reveals that puma predation of vicuñas is more likely in nutrient-rich
 sites, but carcasses have the greatest effects on soil nutrients in
 nutrient-poor environments, such that carcasses increase localized
 heterogeneity by generating nutrient hotspots in less productive
 environments. Predation and carcass decomposition may thus be important
 overlooked factors influencing ecosystem functioning in arid environments.
description: # Data for “Predation and biophysical context control long-term carcass
 nutrient inputs in an Andean ecosystem”, by Monk, J.D., E. Donadio, J.A.
 Smith, P.L. Perrig, A.D. Middleton and O.J. Schmitz, 2023
 Data collected in San
 Guillermo National Park (SGNP), Argentina, from 2014-2019 ## Description
 of the data and file structure FILES: Monk_carcass_plant_data.csv
 Monk_carcass_soil_data.csv Monk_nutrient_risk_spatial_data.csv
 *Monk_carcass_plant_data.csv* Dataset used for analyzing plant nutrient
 data at puma kill sites * sample_type: Type of sample (i.e. plant, soil) *
 treatment: treatment at sampling location (carcass = beneath a camelid
 carcass, stomach = beneath excised camelid stomach contents, ref =
 reference location 6m from carcass at kill site) * latitude: latitude of
 kill site * longitude: longitude of kill site * carcass_id: ID of kill
 site * habitat: Habitat of kill site (Plain = open plains refuge habitat,
 nutrient-poor, sparsely vegetated; Canyon = rocky canyons and mountain
 slopes, high-predation risk habitat, nutrient-poor, sparsely vegetated;
 Meadow = heavily vegetated wet meadow, nutrient-rich, high-predation risk
 habitat) * d15N: δ¹⁵N values of samples * d13C: δ¹³C values of samples *
 percentN: % Nitrogen of samples, expressed on a scale from 0 to 1 *
 percentC: % Carbon of samples, expressed on a scale from 0 to 1 * CtoN:
 carbon to nitrogen ratio of samples *Monk_carcass_soil_data.csv* Dataset
 used for analyzing soil nutrient data at puma kill sites * sample_type:
 Type of sample (i.e. plant, soil) * treatment: treatment at sampling
 location (carcass = beneath a camelid carcass, stomach = beneath excised
 camelid stomach contents, ref = reference location 6m from carcass at kill
 site) * latitude: latitude of kill site * longitude: longitude of kill
 site * carcass_id: ID of kill site * habitat: Habitat of kill site (Plain
 = open plains refuge habitat, nutrient-poor, sparsely vegetated; Canyon =
 rocky canyons and mountain slopes, high-predation risk habitat,
 nutrient-poor, sparsely vegetated; Meadow = heavily vegetated wet meadow,
 nutrient-rich, high-predation risk habitat) * grav_moisture: air-dried
 moisture content of soil [(wet mass soil - dry mass soil)/(dry mass soil)]
 * temp: soil temperature (celsius) * d15N: δ¹⁵N values of samples * d13C:
 δ¹³C values of samples * percentN: % Nitrogen of samples, expressed on a
 scale from 0 to 1 * percentC: % Carbon of samples, expressed on a scale
 from 0 to 1 * CtoN: carbon to nitrogen ratio of samples * Fe: iron
 concentration of sample [mg/kg] * Ca: calcium concentration of sample
 [mg/kg] * K: potassium concentration of sample [mg/kg] * Mg: magnesium
 concentration of sample [mg/kg] * Mn: manganese concentration of sample
 [mg/kg] * B: boron concentration of sample [mg/kg] * Na: sodium
 concentration of sample [mg/kg] * Zn: zinc concentration of sample [mg/kg]
 * P: phosphorus concentration of sample [mg/kg] * carcass_age: time since
 kill date/carcass deposition (in years)
 *Monk_nutrient_risk_spatial_data.csv* Dataset used for analyzing the
 spatial correlation between soil nitrogen and puma predation risk in San
 Guillermo National Park * percentN: % Nitrogen of soil, expressed on a
 scale from 0 to 1 * habitat: Habitat of sample (Plain = open plains refuge
 habitat, nutrient-poor, sparsely vegetated; Canyon = rocky canyons and
 mountain slopes, high-predation risk habitat, nutrient-poor, sparsely
 vegetated; Meadow = heavily vegetated wet meadow, nutrient-rich,
 high-predation risk habitat) * longitude: longitude of sampling location
 (combination of reference locations at kill sites and random points across
 the landscape) * latitude: latitude of sampling location (combination of
 reference locations at kill sites and random points across the landscape)
 * riskvalue: probability of puma kill site selection (on a scale from 0 to
 1) derived from a resource selection function of predicted kill sites
 applied to the study area (from Smith et al. 2020, Ecology).