Complete stable isotope dataset.

Decomposing vertebrates impact ecosystems by stimulating animal, insect, and microbial scavengers, perturbing biogeochemical cycles, and transferring elements back to the environment. Most studies exploring the impacts of vertebrate decomposition focus on surface decay scenarios over timescales of days to years. Accordingly, our knowledge of ecosystem impacts of vertebrate decomposition in burial contexts and over longer time scales is limited. In 2000, six animal carcasses were buried in a shallow grave (δ15N values of 10.48 ± 3.6‰, which is ~5‰ greater than controls. Carbon and nitrogen content was also disrupted in the burial, with five times more nitrogen in the bone-bearing layer and almost double the carbon. Water and acid-based extractions of soils revealed significant differences between grave and control soils, driven largely by calcium, phosphorus (P), magnesium, and iron concentrations. P concentrations in acid extracts were significantly enriched at the bone-bearing layer, suggesting release of P from the bones. This study demonstrates that decomposition may result in long-lived impacts to burial environments and soil biogeochemistry, even after soft tissues decay. While not typically considered in ecosystem models, buried remains contribute to soils for decades or longer, and soil biogeochemistry serves a critical role in facilitating or preventing the long-term preservation of bone.脊椎动物（vertebrate）尸体的分解过程可通过刺激动物、昆虫及微生物食腐者（scavengers），扰动生物地球化学循环（biogeochemical cycles），并将元素重新释放回环境，进而对生态系统产生影响。当前绝大多数针对脊椎动物分解影响的研究，均聚焦于时长为数日至数年的地表腐烂场景。因此，学界对于掩埋环境中以及更长时间尺度下脊椎动物分解所带来的生态系统影响，认知仍较为有限。2000年，研究团队将6具动物尸体掩埋于一处浅埋墓穴中，该墓穴的δ¹⁵N值为10.48 ± 3.6‰，较对照组高出约5‰。掩埋环境中的碳、氮含量亦出现异常：含骨层（bone-bearing layer）的氮含量为对照组的5倍，碳含量则几乎翻倍。对土壤开展水基与酸基浸提（acid-based extraction）分析后发现，墓穴土壤与对照土壤存在显著差异，这种差异主要由钙、磷（P）、镁及铁的浓度差异驱动。酸浸提取物中的磷浓度在含骨层处显著富集，这表明磷元素从骨骼中得到了释放。本研究证实，即便软组织已完全腐烂，脊椎动物的分解作用仍可能对掩埋环境及土壤生物地球化学（soil biogeochemistry）造成长期影响。尽管生态系统模型通常未纳入此类因素，但掩埋的动物尸体仍会在数十年乃至更长时间内持续影响土壤，而土壤生物地球化学在促进或阻碍骨骼的长期保存过程中发挥着关键作用。