Data for: Predation and biophysical context control long-term carcass nutrient inputs in an Andean ecosystem

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 i..., , , # 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 a...