Patterns of Stoichiometric Soil Ratios Across Ecosystems: The Everglades As a Model System.

Ecological stoichiometry is the balance of macronutrients such as, carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P), which are involved in ecological processes such as energy flow, resource availability, and competition. As such, ecological stoichiometry can yield relevant information about nutrient cycling, microbial nutrient balance, and nutrient sequestration in soils. Therefore, the goal of this study was to evaluate spatial patterns of ecological stoichiometry in wetland soils across hydrologic units of the Everglades ecosystem. The relationship between biotic (vegetation) and abiotic (nutrient concentrations, hydrology, and salinity) factors on soil stoichiometric ratios will also be investigated. The Florida Everglades has four defined hydrologic units and consequently was used as a model wetland ecosystem in this study. We hypothesized that ecological stoichiometric ratios of soils would vary spatially because of different vegetation types, nutrient concentrations, and hydrology in these hydrologic units. To test this hypothesis, we determined the stoichiometric ratios of total C (TC), total N (TN), and total P (TP) in the floc and top 10 cm of soils collected at approximately over 1300 stations in the Everglades. The spatial variability of TC:TN, TC:TP, and TN:TP was evaluated and spatial patterns were related to vegetation and hydrology of the system.