DOI: 10.5061/dryad.kh18932dq
title: Vicuna antipredator diel movement drives spatial nutrient subsidies in a high Andean ecosystem

description: Large animals could be important drivers of spatial nutrient subsidies
 when they ingest resources in some habitats and release them in others,
 even moving nutrients against elevational gradients. In high Andean
 deserts, vicuñas (Vicugna vicugna) move daily between nutrient-rich wet
 meadows, where there is abundant water and forage but high risk of
 predation by pumas (Puma concolor), and nutrient-poor open plains with
 lower risk of predation. In all habitats, vicuñas defecate and urinate in
 communal latrines. We investigated how these latrines impacted soil and
 plant nutrient concentrations across three habitats in the Andean
 ecosystem (meadows, plains, and canyons), and used stable isotope analysis
 to explore the source of fecal nutrients in latrines. Latrine soils had
 higher concentrations of nitrogen, carbon, and other nutrients than did
 non-latrine soils across all habitats. These inputs corresponded with an
 increase in plant quality (lower C:N) at latrine sites in plains and
 canyons, but not in meadows. Stable isotope mixing models suggest that ~7%
 of nutrients in plains latrines originated from vegetation in meadows,
 which is disproportionately higher than the relative proportion of meadow
 habitat (2.6%) in the study area. In contrast, ~68% of nutrients in meadow
 latrines appear to originate from plains and canyon vegetation, though
 these habitats made up nearly 98% of the study area. Vicuña diel movements
 thus appear to concentrate nutrients in latrines within habitats and to
 drive cross-habitat nutrient subsidies, with disproportionate transport
 from low-lying, nutrient-rich meadows to more elevated, nutrient-poor
 plains. Scaling these results up to the landscape scale, the amount of
 nitrogen and phosphorus subsidized in soil at plains latrines was of the
 same order of magnitude as estimates of annual atmospheric nitrogen and
 phosphorus deposition for this region (albeit far more localized and
 patchy). Thus, vicuña-mediated nutrient redistribution and deposition
 appears to be an important process impacting ecosystem functioning in arid
 Andean environments, on par with other major inputs of nutrients to the
 system.
description: # Vicuña antipredator diel movement drives spatial nutrient subsidies in a
 high Andean ecosystem Data
 for “Vicuña anti predator diet movement drives spatial nutrient subsidies
 in a high Andean ecosystem”, by Monk, J.D., E. Donadio, P.F. Gregorio, and
 O.J. Schmitz, 2023 Julia D. Monk Yale University University of California
 - Berkeley Data collected in San Guillermo
 National Park (SGNP), Argentina, in 2020 ## Description of the data and
 file structure **FILES:** Monk_isotope_data.xlsx Monk_latrine_counts.xlsx
 Monk_latrine_cover.xlsx Monk_latrine_diameter.xlsx
 Monk_plant_nutrient_data.xlsx Monk_soil_nutrient_data.xlsx
 ***Monk_isotope_data.xlsx*** Dataset used for analyzing vicuña feces and
 plant material C and N isotopes for stable isotope mixing models *Tab:
 Mixes (Vicuña feces)* habitat: Habitat of latrine site (Plains = open
 plains refuge habitat, nutrient-poor, sparsely vegetated; Canyons = rocky
 canyons and mountain slopes, high-predation risk habitat, nutrient-poor,
 sparsely vegetated; Meadows = heavily vegetated wet meadow, nutrient-rich,
 high-predation risk habitat) d15N: δ¹⁵N values of vicuña fecal samples
 (per mil) d13C: δ¹³C values of vicuña fecal samples (per mil) *Tab:
 Sources (Plants)* d15N: δ¹⁵N values of plant samples (per mil) d13C: δ¹³C
 values of plant samples (per mil) percentN: % nitrogen content of plant
 samples percentC: % carbon content of plant samples source: Source for
 isotope mixing models (Plains_and_Canyons: vegetation from arid plains and
 canyons; Meadows: vegetation from wet meadows)
 ***Monk_latrine_counts.xlsx*** Dataset used for analyzing the number of
 latrines per 50 x 50 m plot plot_id: ID of 50 x 50 m plot Habitat: Habitat
 of latrine plot (Plains = open plains refuge habitat, nutrient-poor,
 sparsely vegetated; Canyons = rocky canyons and mountain slopes,
 high-predation risk habitat, nutrient-poor, sparsely vegetated; Meadows =
 heavily vegetated wet meadow, nutrient-rich, high-predation risk habitat)
 latrines: number of vicuña latrines latitude: latitude of latrine plot
 longitude: longitude of latrine plot ***Monk_latrine_cover.xlsx*** Dataset
 used for analyzing plant cover at vicuña latrines and reference sites
 plot_id: ID of 50 x 50 m plot quadrat_id: ID of plant survey quadrat
 treatment: treatment at sampling location (latrine = at a vicuña latrine,
 ref = reference location &gt; 6 m from a latrine) poaceae_cover: percent
 cover of poaceae plants in quadrat juncaceae_cover: percent cover of
 juncaceae plants in quadrat cyperaceae_cover: percent cover of cyperaceae
 plants in quadrat fabaceae_cover: percent cover of fabaceae plants in
 quadrat ephedraceae_cover: percent cover of ephedraceae plants in quadrat
 asteraceae_cover: percent cover of asteraceae plants in quadrat
 solanaceae_cover: percent cover of solanaceae plants in quadrat
 cactaceae_cover: percent cover of cactaceae plants in quadrat
 portulacaceae_cover: percent cover of portulacaceae plants in quadrat
 herbaceae_cover: percent cover of herbaceae plants in quadrat
 malvaceae_cover: percent cover of malvaceae plants in quadrat
 boraginaceae_cover: percent cover of boraginaceae plants in quadrat
 verbenaceae_cover: percent cover of verbenaceae plants in quadrat
 total_plant: total plant cover in quadrat habitat: Habitat of latrine plot
 (Plains = open plains refuge habitat, nutrient-poor, sparsely vegetated;
 Canyons = rocky canyons and mountain slopes, high-predation risk habitat,
 nutrient-poor, sparsely vegetated; Meadows = heavily vegetated wet meadow,
 nutrient-rich, high-predation risk habitat)
 ***Monk_latrine_diameter.xlsx*** Dataset used for analyzing the diameter
 of vicuña latrines plot_id: ID of 50 x 50 m plot latrine_id: ID of
 individual latrines within plots habitat: Habitat of latrine plot (Plains
 = open plains refuge habitat, nutrient-poor, sparsely vegetated; Canyons =
 rocky canyons and mountain slopes, high-predation risk habitat,
 nutrient-poor, sparsely vegetated; Meadows = heavily vegetated wet meadow,
 nutrient-rich, high-predation risk habitat) diameter: diameter (in meters)
 of vicuña latrines fresh: whether or not the latrine appeared fresh (yes =
 fresh with shiny black fecal pellets; medium = brown fecal pellets,
 slightly faded from sun; no = latrine appears old with desiccated
 white-grey fecal pellets) ***Monk_plant_nutrient_data.xlsx*** Dataset used
 for analyzing plant nutrient data from latrine plots sample_id: ID of
 individual sample treatment: treatment at sampling location (latrine = at
 a vicuña latrine, ref = reference location &gt; 6 m from a latrine)
 plot_id: ID of 50 x 50 m plot habitat: Habitat of latrine plot (Plains =
 open plains refuge habitat, nutrient-poor, sparsely vegetated; Canyons =
 rocky canyons and mountain slopes, high-predation risk habitat,
 nutrient-poor, sparsely vegetated; Meadows = heavily vegetated wet meadow,
 nutrient-rich, high-predation risk habitat) percentN: % nitrogen content
 of plant samples percentC: % carbon content of plant samples CtoN: carbon
 to nitrogen ratio of plant samples ***Monk_soil_nutrient_data.xlsx***
 Dataset used for analyzing soil nutrient data from latrine plots
 sample_id: ID of individual sample treatment: treatment at sampling
 location (latrine = at a vicuña latrine, ref = reference location &gt; 6 m
 from a latrine) plot_id: ID of 50 x 50 m plot habitat: Habitat of latrine
 plot (Plains = open plains refuge habitat, nutrient-poor, sparsely
 vegetated; Canyons = rocky canyons and mountain slopes, high-predation
 risk habitat, nutrient-poor, sparsely vegetated; Meadows = heavily
 vegetated wet meadow, nutrient-rich, high-predation risk habitat)
 percentN: % nitrogen content of soil samples (NA = sample analysis failed)
 percentC: % carbon content of soil samples (NA = sample analysis failed)
 notes: notes about sample analysis (NA = no notes) P: phosphorus
 concentration of sample [mg/kg] (NA = sample accidentally destroyed before
 successful analysis) Fe: iron concentration of sample [mg/kg] (NA = sample
 accidentally destroyed before successful analysis) Ca: calcium
 concentration of sample [mg/kg] (NA = sample accidentally destroyed before
 successful analysis) K: potassium concentration of sample [mg/kg] (NA =
 sample accidentally destroyed before successful analysis) Mg: magnesium
 concentration of sample [mg/kg] (NA = sample accidentally destroyed before
 successful analysis) Mn: manganese concentration of sample [mg/kg] (NA =
 sample accidentally destroyed before successful analysis) Na: sodium
 concentration of sample [mg/kg] (NA = sample accidentally destroyed before
 successful analysis) Zn: zinc concentration of sample [mg/kg] (NA = sample
 accidentally destroyed before successful analysis)