Abstract
Decomposition of plant litter is a key process for the transfer of carbon and nutrients in ecosystems. Carbon contained in the decaying biomass is released to the atmosphere as respired CO2, and may contribute to global warming. Litterbag studies have been used to improve our knowledge of the drivers of litter decomposition, but they lack comparability because litter quality is plant species-specific. The use of commercial tea bags as a standard substrate was suggested in order to harmonize studies, where green tea and rooibos represent more labile and more recalcitrant C compounds as surrogates of local litter. Here we examine the potential of the use of standardized material for improving our understanding of litter decomposition across climate regions, and to further develop pertinent models. We measured the decomposition of incubated local and standard litters over two years along an elevation gradient in the Austrian Limestone Alps. The similar response to changes in temperature and precipitation of the pairs of local and standard litter—i.e., Fagus sylvatica and green tea, and Pinus nigra and rooibos tea, respectively—suggests the suitability of the standard litters for further examining the role of environmental drivers of decomposition. Harmonized data obtained from standardized litter experiments would provide a key prerequisite for further developing simulation models for the estimation of the C balance of ecosystem litter pools.
Highlights
Senescence, and mortality result in a continuous supply of organic matter, such as foliage, which accumulates as plant litter on or in the soil to be decomposed by microorganisms
Decomposition of plant litter is a key process for the flow, recirculation, and storage of energy, carbon, and nutrients in ecosystems, and it is controlled by site conditions including temperature and precipitation, substrate availability, and decomposing organisms
Decomposition decomposition rate decreased with elevation, and more mass remained at higher elevation rate decreased with elevation, and more mass remained at higher elevation (Figure 2)
Summary
Senescence, and mortality result in a continuous supply of organic matter, such as foliage, which accumulates as plant litter on or in the soil to be decomposed by microorganisms.Decomposition of plant litter is a key process for the flow, recirculation, and storage of energy, carbon, and nutrients in ecosystems, and it is controlled by site conditions including temperature and precipitation, substrate availability, and decomposing organisms (as reviewed in [1]). The decomposition rates of litter can vary considerably across ecosystems. Decomposition of plant litter and soil organic matter represents one of the largest fluxes in the global terrestrial C cycle, contributing approximately 60 Pg Cyear1 [2], and it can contribute significantly to annual CO2 emissions from vegetated ecosystems such as forests, crop-, and grasslands. Litterbags have been used extensively to examine the importance of different drivers and how they affect the nutrient and mineral fluxes from the plant litter to the soil (e.g., [5,6,7]). Based on a meta-analysis of 66 litterbag experiments involving 818 plant species, Cornwell et al [8] showed that within a climate region, plant species traits are important drivers of their litter decomposition
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