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Control Points in Ecosystems: Moving Beyond the Hot Spot Hot Moment Concept

Ecosystems volume 20, pages 665–682 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

The phrase “hot spots and hot moments” first entered the lexicon in 2003, following the publication of the paper “Biogeochemical hot spots and hot moments at the interface of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems” by McClain and others (Ecosystems 6:301–312, 2003). This paper described the potential for rare places and rare events to exert a disproportionate influence on the movement of elements at the scale of landscapes and ecosystems. Here, we examine how the cleverly named hot spot and hot moment concept (hereafter HSHM) has influenced biogeochemistry and ecosystem science over the last 13 years. We specifically examined the extent to which the HSHM concept has: (1) motivated research aimed at understanding how and why biogeochemical behavior varies across spatiotemporal scales; (2) improved our ability to detect HSHM phenomena; and (3) influenced our approaches to restoration and ecosystem management practices. We found that the HSHM concept has provided a highly fertile framework for a substantial volume of research on the spatial and temporal dynamics of nutrient cycling, and in doing so, has improved our understanding of when and where biogeochemical rates are maximized. Despite the high usage of the term, we found limited examples of rigorous statistical or modeling approaches that would allow ecosystem scientists to not only identify, but scale the aggregate impact of HSHM on ecosystem processes. We propose that the phrase “hot spots and hot moments” includes two implicit assumptions that may actually be limiting progress in applying the concept. First, by differentiating “hot spots” from “hot moments,” the phrase separates the spatial and temporal components of biogeochemical behavior. Instead, we argue that the temporal dynamics of a putative hot spot are a fundamental trait that should be used in their description. Second, the adjective “hot” implicitly suggests that a place or a time must be dichotomously classified as “hot or not.” We suggest instead that each landscape of interest contains a wide range of biogeochemical process rates that respond to critical drivers, and the gradations of this biogeochemical topography are of greater interest than the maximum peaks. For these reasons, we recommend replacing the HSHM terminology with the more nuanced term ecosystem control points. “Ecosystem control” suggests that the rate must be of sufficient magnitude or ubiquity to affect dynamics of the ecosystem, while “points” allows for descriptions that simultaneously incorporate both spatial and temporal dynamics. We further suggest that there are at least four distinct types of ecosystem control points whose influence arises through distinct hydrologic and biogeochemical mechanisms. Our goal is to provide the tools with which researchers can develop testable hypotheses regarding the spatiotemporal dynamics of biogeochemistry that will stimulate advances in more accurately identifying, modeling and scaling biogeochemical heterogeneity to better understand ecosystem processes.

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Acknowledgements

This paper arose from vigorous, weekly conversations among the authors over the course of 2015–2016. The authors would like to thank members of Duke’s River Center, Peter Groffman and two anonymous peer reviewers for constructive feedback and advice on this manuscript. Authors JB, KK, ES were supported by NSF GRFP fellowships and CF was supported by a DOE GO! graduate fellowship for some or all of this period.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA

      Emily S. Bernhardt, Joanna R. Blaszczak & Cari D. Ficken

    2. University Program in Ecology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA

      Emily S. Bernhardt, Joanna R. Blaszczak, Cari D. Ficken & Erin C. Seybold

    3. Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA

      Megan L. Fork, Kendra E. Kaiser & Erin C. Seybold

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    1. Emily S. Bernhardt
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    Correspondence to Emily S. Bernhardt.

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    Over the course of one full year of weekly meetings, all authors took part in scoping the paper, reading the citing literature, writing the manuscript, and responding to reviews. KK organized and error-checked all citation data; CF performed text analysis of titles and citing sentences; MF compiled information on the magnitude of hot spot effects reported and the methods used for analyses; JB created Figure 5; ES and MF created the model analyses in Box 1; EB and MF did the final editing of the entire MS.

    Emily S. Bernhardt, Joanna R. Blaszczak, Cari D. Ficken, Megan L. Fork, Kendra E. Kaiser, and Erin C. Seybold have contributed equally to this work and are listed alphabetically.

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    Bernhardt, E.S., Blaszczak, J.R., Ficken, C.D. et al. Control Points in Ecosystems: Moving Beyond the Hot Spot Hot Moment Concept. Ecosystems 20, 665–682 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-016-0103-y

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    Keywords

    • biogeochemistry
    • hot spots
    • control points
    • ecosystem