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Biotic drivers of spatial heterogeneity of soil fertility in a slash pine (Pinus elliottii) ecosystem: effects of crayfish (Procambarus spp.) and pitcher plants (Sarracenia sp.)
University of West Florida Libraries
Master of Science (MS), University of West Florida
2026
Soil fertility within terrestrial ecosystems is often prone to significant variability across a landscape in response to localized biotic drivers exerting an influence on surrounding terrain. This study examined soil fertility in proximity of two biotic factors, carnivorous plants and crayfish bioturbation, to investigate the role of native organisms on soil microheterogeneity at Tarkiln Bayou Preserve State Park, in Pensacola Florida. Soil samples were collected during 2025 in the form of crayfish chimney and associated surface reference soil (0-5 cm depth) via trowel into polyethylene bags to be transported for laboratory analysis. Previous study data from sampling in 2023 investigated soil heterogeneity in response to pitcher plant presence and were referenced in development of the objectives for this study. Leaves of Sarracenia leucophylla (white pitcher plant) were collected in 2025 as fresh pitcher/fresh photosynthetic leaf and senesced pitcher/senesced photosynthetic leaf to investigate resorption efficiency of macronutrients. This comparison was being done with the objective to determine why previous soil data showed decreased soil fertility in soils closer to pitcher plants than in surrounding surface soils. Chimney soil data show major nutrient variability enforcing evidence of chimneys being constructed from lower soil horizons, with an increase in nitrate (NO3) content suggesting significant ammonium (NH4) mineralization and nitrification in response to crayfish bioturbation. Pitcher leaf matter indicates significant resorption of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) prior to senescence, and an accumulation of foliar concentration of most other nutrients. S. leucophylla appears to be constantly limited by N and P, driving the plants to perform significant resorption and root uptake alongside insect carnivory, which decreases local soil N and P content. Crayfish influence on local soil fertility shows a more positive correlation, as the typically surface soil condition is severely limited in NO3 content, and nitrification appears to be stifled by waterlogged soil preventing aeration coupled with high competition among microbes for phosphorus. The chimneys provide the disturbance required for nitrification to occur more rapidly and are known to be recruitment hotspots for specialist plants in this ecosystem. In considering how pitcher plants and crayfish both demonstrated influence on soil microheterogeneity in the localized environment, the question of how many other flora and fauna may be shifting the environment in small ways is opened. Alongside this, the limited-in-understanding recruitment of specialist flora due to crayfish chimney formation brings new invertebrate members into the topic of bioturbation-driven biodiversity.
- Biotic drivers of spatial heterogeneity of soil fertility in a slash pine (Pinus elliottii) ecosystem
- Thesis
- Frank S Gilliam (Committee Chair)Philip Schmutz (Committee Member)Matthew Schwartz (Committee Member)
- University of West Florida Libraries
- pdf
- 52
- Permission granted to the University of West Florida Libraries by the author to digitize and/or display this information for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires the permission of the copyright holder.
- 99381865461906600
- Earth and Environmental Sciences; Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering
- English
- University of West Florida; Master of Science (MS)
- Master of Science (MS), University of West Florida