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41 results for “microbial decomposition”

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edi60/100

Warming Effects on Microbial Structure and Decomposition at Harvard Forest 2011

Because microorganisms are sensitive to temperature, ongoing global warming is predicted to influence microbial community structure and function. We used large-scale warming experiments established at two sites near the northern and southern boundaries of US eastern deciduous forests to explore how microbial communities and their function respond to warming at sites with differing climatic regimes. Soil microbial community structure and function responded to warming at the southern but not the northern site. However, changes in microbial community structure and function at the southern site did not result in changes in cellulose decomposition rates. While most global change models rest on the assumption that taxa will respond similarly to warming across sites and their ranges, these results suggest that the responses of microorganisms to warming may be mediated by differences across the geographic boundaries of ecosystems.

openCC0Dec 2023View details →
edi48/100

Effects of Nitrogen Fertilization on Litter and Soil Decomposition: Cumulative Microbial Respiration

The influence of inorganic nitrogen (N) inputs on decomposition is poorly understood. Some prior studies suggest that N may reduce the decomposition of substrates with high concentrations of lignin via inhibitory effects on the activity of lignin-degrading enzymes, although such inhibition has not always been demonstrated. The purpose of E145 was to study the effects of nitrogen (N) addition on decomposition of seven substrates ranging in initial lignin concentrations (from 7.4 - 25.6%) over five years in eight different grassland and forest sites in central Minnesota.

openCC0Feb 2025View details →
edi48/100

Effects of Nitrogen Fertilization on Litter and Soil Decomposition: Daily Microbial Respiration

The influence of inorganic nitrogen (N) inputs on decomposition is poorly understood. Some prior studies suggest that N may reduce the decomposition of substrates with high concentrations of lignin via inhibitory effects on the activity of lignin-degrading enzymes, although such inhibition has not always been demonstrated. The purpose of E145 was to study the effects of nitrogen (N) addition on decomposition of seven substrates ranging in initial lignin concentrations (from 7.4 - 25.6%) over five years in eight different grassland and forest sites in central Minnesota.

openCC0Feb 2025View details →
edi48/100

Effects of Nitrogen Fertilization on Litter and Soil Decomposition: Microbial Biomass

The influence of inorganic nitrogen (N) inputs on decomposition is poorly understood. Some prior studies suggest that N may reduce the decomposition of substrates with high concentrations of lignin via inhibitory effects on the activity of lignin-degrading enzymes, although such inhibition has not always been demonstrated. The purpose of E145 was to study the effects of nitrogen (N) addition on decomposition of seven substrates ranging in initial lignin concentrations (from 7.4 - 25.6%) over five years in eight different grassland and forest sites in central Minnesota.

openCC0Feb 2025View details →
zenodo40/100

UV radiation accelerates litter decomposition in a valley-type savanna by enhancing microbial community diversity and function

<p><span>We present the data of the study by Gao et al. (202</span><span>4</span><span>): <a name="_Hlk179470571"></a><a name="OLE_LINK42"></a><strong><span>UV radiation accelerates litter decomposition in a valley-type savanna by enhancing microbial community diversity and function</span></strong></span><span>.</span><span> The excel file (Raw Data) includes the following sheets: 1- Radiation (w&middot;m<sup>-2</sup>) variation of UV-A and UV-B during the experimental period. 2- Decay constants (<em>K</em>, yr<sup>&minus;1</sup>) and changes in the mass loss rate of litter under different UV conditions during the experimental period<span>. 3- </span>The content of lignin, cellulose, C, N and P of litter under different UV conditions during the experimental period<span>. 4-</span></span><span> </span><span>16S ASVs under different UV conditions<span>. 5-</span></span><span> </span><span>ITS ASVs under different UV conditions.</span></p>

opencc-by-4.0Nov 2024View details →
dryad40/100

Data for: Frequent fire slows microbial decomposition of newly deposited fine fuels in a pyrophilic ecosystem

<p>Fire-plant feedbacks engineer recurrent fires in pyrophilic ecosystems like savannas. The mechanisms sustaining these feedbacks may be related to plant adaptations that trigger rapid responses to fire's effects on soil. Plants adapted for high fire frequencies should quickly regrow, flower, and produce seeds that mature rapidly and disperse post-fire. We hypothesized that offspring of such plants would germinate and grow rapidly, responding to fire-generated changes in soil nutrients and biota. We conducted an experiment using longleaf pine savanna plants that were paired based on differences in reproduction and survival under annual ("more" pyrophilic) vs. less frequent ("less" pyrophilic) fire regimes. Seeds were planted in different soil inoculations from experimental fires of varying severity. The "more" pyrophilic species displayed high germination rates followed by species-specific, rapid growth responses to soil location and fire severity effects on soils. In contrast, the "less" pyrophilic species had lower germination rates that were not responsive to soil treatments. This suggests that rapid germination and growth constitute adaptations to frequent fires and that plants respond differently to fire severity effects on soil abiotic factors and microbes. Further, variable plant responses to post-fire soils may influence plant community diversity and fire-fuel feedbacks in pyrophilic ecosystems.</p>

opencc-zeroJul 2020View details →
dryad40/100

Data for: Frequent fire slows microbial decomposition of newly deposited fine fuels in a pyrophilic ecosystem

Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.

publicJan 2023View details →
edi40/100

Microbial decomposition of 13-C labeled substrates across a gradient of root density, Marcell Experimental Forest, Minnesota, USA, 2014

Roots influence microbial decomposition of organic matter. We investigated how roots influence decomposition of a simple and complex carbon (C) substrate in mesocosms in a field experiment. Mesocosms were PVC lined with mesh that varied in size, which manipulated root access to soil and produced a gradient of root density. Mesocosms either received an injection of water (control), 13C labeled starch or 13C labeled leaf material. We collected gas samples from the mesocosms and analyzed 13C-CO2, microbial biomass, and enzyme activity. Our empirical data set was compared to a rhizosphere simulation model, CORPSE, to evaluate two alternative model hypotheses: 1) microbes are generalist decomposers, and 2) microbes have different affinities for substrates and may be influenced by roots differently. Our field experiment was conducted in 2014 at Marcell Experimental Forest, MN, USA. We installed mesocosms in May and after six weeks we injected water or substrates into soil. Gas samples were collected 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 20, and 40 days after injections. Mesocosms that received the starch substrate were harvested from the field 5 days after injections and those receiving leaf material were harvested 40 days after injections. Half of the water-control mesocosm were harvested 5 and 40 days after injections to pair with the substrate mesocosm harvests. Our results suggested decomposition of leaf material was more sensitive to root density than starch. The CORPSE model simulations with microbe-substrate affinity (hypothesis 2) showed a similar pattern to the field experiment. One way that roots influence microbial decomposition is through alleviating C limitation via exudates. Overall, our results suggest that microbial decomposition of starch is not a C limited process and that root density does not alter the rate of starch decomposition. On the other hand, decomposition of more complex substrates such as leaf tissue, which contains cellulose, hemi cellulose, and lignin, may be

openCC (other)Oct 2019View details →
edi40/100

Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest: soil, litter, plant and microbial attributes on mycorrhizae litter decomposition plots

Studies show mycorrhizal fungi can influence leaf litter decomposition in a variety of ways, but the effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi on litter decay in forests vary widely across published reports. We experimentally reduced the presence of fine roots and their associated mycorrhizal fungi by soil trenching within a series of plots spanning a gradient of mycorrhizal dominance containing from 96% AM to 100% ECM-associated trees at Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in Woodstock, NH. We incubated four species of leaf litter in mesh decomposition bags in areas with reduced access to roots and mycorrhizal fungi and in adjacent areas with intact roots and mycorrhizal fungi. After 608 days of decomposition (November 2017 through July 2019), we found that litter decayed more rapidly in the presence of fine roots and mycorrhizal hyphae in all plots, regardless of dominant tree mycorrhizal type. Root and mycorrhizal exclusion did not affect enzyme activities on decomposing litter or soil microbial community composition. Despite reports that both AM and ECM fungi may reduce litter decay rate, our results indicate that AM and ECM-associated fine roots stimulate litter decomposition.

openCC (other)Dec 2020View details →
zenodo36/100

Soil and litter chemistry, soil microbial communities and litter decomposition from tropical forest and oil palm

<b>Description: </b><p>A study examining the interactions between soil chemistry, litter chemistry and soil microbial decomposers as controls on rates of litter decomposition across a tropical land use disturbance gradient. Co-located soil and litter samples were collected from old growth forest, moderately logged forest, heavily logged forest and oil palm plantations. Soil and litter were chemically characterised and soil bacterial and fungal community composition and abundance were measured. These were then combined in fully factorial ex-situ microcosms and measured litter decomposition rates at 3 time points during different stages of decomposition.</p><p><b>Project: </b>This dataset was collected as part of the following SAFE research project: <a href="https://www.safeproject.net/projects/project_view/124"><b>Biodiversity and land-use impacts on tropical ecosystem function (BALI): Quantifying biogeochemistry across forest disturbance gradients in Sabah</b></a></p><p><b>Funding: </b>These data were collected as part of research funded by: </p><ul><li>UK NERC-funded Biodiversity And Land-use Impacts on Tropical Ecosystem Function (BALI) consortium (Standard grant, NE/K016377/1)</li></ul><p>This dataset is released under the CC-BY 4.0 licence, requiring that you cite the dataset in any outputs, but has the additional condition that you acknowledge the contribution of these funders in any outputs.</p><p></p><p><b>Permits: </b>These data were collected under permit from the following authorities:</p><ul><li>Sabah Biodiversity Centre (Research licence JKM/MBS.1000-2/2 JLD.5 (20))</li><li>Sabah Biodiversity Centre (Export licence JKM/MBS.1000-2/3 JLD.2 (70))</li></ul><p></p><p><b>XML metadata: </b>GEMINI compliant metadata for this dataset is available <a href="https://www.safeproject.net/datasets/xml_metadata?id=3929632">here</a></p><p><b>Files: </b>This consists of 1 file: SAFE_Dataset.xlsx</p><p><b>SAFE_Dataset.xlsx</b></p><p>This file contains dataset metadata and 5 data tables:</p><ol><li><p><b>Soil_Properties</b> (described in worksheet Soil_Properties)</p><p>Description: Basic measured soil properties</p><p>Number of fields: 9</p><p>Number of data rows: 20</p><p>Fields: </p><ul><li><b>Plot</b>: Plot name corresponding to the GEM Carbon plot where soils were sampled (Field type: id)</li><li><b>Plot_ID</b>: Plot ID indicating land use as referenced in the Frontiers in forests and global change publication &quot;Soil microbial community and litter quality controls on decomposition across a tropical forest disturbance gradient&quot; (Field type: categorical)</li><li><b>location_name</b>: Name of subplot where soils were collected (Field type: location)</li><li><b>gravimetric moisture content</b>: Soil moisture content at the time of sample collection (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>soil_pH</b>: Soil pH measured on fresh soils (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>soil_N</b>: Total soil Nitrogen (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>soil_C</b>: Total soil Carbon (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>soil_C.N</b>: Soil carbon to nitrogen ratio (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>soil_P</b>: soil inorganic phosphorus (Field type: numeric)</li></ul></li><li><p><b>Litter_Chemistry</b> (described in worksheet Litter_Chemistry)</p><p>Description: Litter chemistry data of mixed forest floor litter, collected, sorted to remove humified material, woody debris and dried</p><p>Number of fields: 20</p><p>Number of data rows: 40</p><p>Fields: </p><ul><li><b>Plot</b>: Plot name corresponding to the GEM Carbon plot where soils were sampled (Field type: id)</li><li><b>Plot_ID</b>: Plot ID indicating land use as referenced in the Frontiers in forests and global change publication &quot;Soil microbial community and litter quality controls on decomposition across a tropical forest disturbance gradient&quot; (Field type: categorical)</li><li><b>location_name</b>: Name of subplot where soils were collected (Field type: location)</li><li><b>Pretreatment</b>: Whether the litter sample was sterilised by autoclaving or not (Field type: categorical)</li><li><b>leaf_K</b>: leaf potassium concentration (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>leaf_Ca</b>: leaf Calcium concentration (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>leaf_Mg</b>: leaf Magnesium concentration (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>leaf_Al</b>: leaf aluminium concentration (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>leaf_P</b>: leaf phosphorus concentrations (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>solubles</b>: leaf soluble cell content (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>hem_pro_cel_lig_rec</b>: leaf hemicellulose, proteins, cellulose, lignin and recalcitrant fibres (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>hem_pro</b>: leaf hemicellulose and proteins (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>cel_lig_rec</b>: leaf cellulose, lignin and recalcitrant fibres (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>cel</b>: leaf cellulose (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>lig_rec</b>: leaf lignin and recalcitrants (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>leaf_N</b>: leaf nitrogen concentration (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>leaf_C</b>: leaf carbon concentration (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>c.n</b>: leaf carbon to nitrogen ration (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>d13c</b>: leaf carbon stable isotope ratio (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>d15n</b>: leaf nitrogen stable isotope ratio (Field type: numeric)</li></ul></li><li><p><b>PLFA_Concentrations</b> (described in worksheet PLFA_Concentrations)</p><p>Description: Phospolipid Fatty Acid (PLFA) concentrations as biomarkers of soil bacteria and fungi. Extracted from freeze dried soils prior to the microcosm experiment</p><p>Number of fields: 10</p><p>Number of data rows: 20</p><p>Fields: </p><ul><li><b>Plot</b>: Plot name corresponding to the GEM Carbon plot where soils were sampled (Field type: id)</li><li><b>Plot_ID</b>: Plot ID indicating land use as referenced in the Frontiers in forests and global change publication &quot;Soil microbial community and litter quality controls on decomposition across a tropical forest disturbance gradient&quot; (Field type: categorical)</li><li><b>location_name</b>: Name of subplot where soils were collected (Field type: location)</li><li><b>Total_PLFA</b>: Total PLFA concentrations extracted from soil samples (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>Fungal_PLFA</b>: Fungal PLFA biomarker concentrations extracted from soils (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>Bacteria_PLFA</b>: Bacteria PLFA biomarkers extracted from soils (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>Fungal:Bacteria</b>: Ratio of fungal to bacteria PLFAs (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>Gram_Pos_PLFA</b>: Gram Positive PLFA Biomarker concentrations extracted from soil (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>Gram_Neg_PLFA</b>: Gram Negative PLFA Biomarker concentrations extracted from soil (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>GramPos:GramNeg</b>: Gram positive to Gram negative PLFA ratios (Field type: numeric)</li></ul></li><li><p><b>Soil_Microbial_Communities</b> (described in worksheet Soil_Microbial_Communities)</p><p>Description: Summary diversity statistics from bacterial 16S and fungal ITS biomarker microbial sequencing. DNA extracted from soils prior to microcosm experiment</p><p>Number of fields: 9</p><p>Number of data rows: 20</p><p>Fields: </p><ul><li><b>Plot</b>: Plot name corresponding to the GEM Carbon plot where soils were sampled (Field type: id)</li><li><b>Plot_ID</b>: Plot ID indicating land use as referenced in the Frontiers in forests and global change publication &quot;Soil microbial community and litter quality controls on decomposition across a tropical forest disturbance gradient&quot; (Field type: categorical)</li><li><b>location_name</b>: Name of subplot where soils were collected (Field type: location)</li><li><b>Bacteria_Richness</b>: Number of observed bacterial taxa from sequencing of 16S marker genes from soil samples (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>Bacteria_Shannon</b>: Bacterial Shannon diversity from 16S Marker gene sequencing (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>Fungal_Richness</b>: Number of observed fungal taxa from sequencing of 16S marker genes from soil samples (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>Fungal_Shannon</b>: Fungal Shannon diversity from 16S Marker gene sequencing (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>Saprotrophic_Fungal_Richness</b>: Number of observed saprotrophic fungal taxa from sequencing of 16S marker genes from soil samples (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>Saprotrophic_Fungal_Shannon</b>: Saprotrophic Fungal Shannon diversity from 16S Marker gene sequencing (Field type: numeric)</li></ul></li><li><p><b>Ex_Situ_Litter_Decomposition</b> (described in worksheet Ex_Situ_Litter_Decomposition)</p><p>Description: Fully factorial litter decomposition experiment. 16 unique soil and litter combinations (4x4) were incubated in petri dishes at constant temperature and moisture and mass loss measured after 31, 105 and 398 days.</p><p>Number of fields: 8</p><p>Number of data rows: 240</p><p>Fields: </p><ul><li><b>location_name</b>: Name of subplot where soils were collected (Field type: location)</li><li><b>Soil_ID</b>: Soil ID indicating which land use soil was collected from (Field type: categorical)</li><li><b>Litter_Location</b>: Location of which GEM carbon plot the litter was collected from. Litter was collected from the 5 carbon subplots as per soil collection and homogenised into one composite sample per carbon plot (Field type: location)</li><li><b>Litter_ID</b>: Litter ID indicating which land use litter was collected from (Field type: categorical)</li><li><b>Experimental_Block</b>: Which experimental block the microcosm was assigned to. N= 5 (Field type: replicate)</li><li><b>Timepoint</b>: At what timepoint the litter was harvested from each microcosm (Field type: categorical)</li><li><b>Mass_Loss</b>: The mass loss of litter relative to the starting mass of 1g (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>home_away</b>: Descriptor for whether the soil and litter combination in microcosm (Field type: categorical)</li></ul></li></ol><p><b>Date range: </b>2014-10-01 to 2018-09-01</p><p><b>Latitudinal extent: </b>4.6402 to 4.9539</p><p><b>Longitudinal extent: </b>117.4518 to 117.7942</p>

opencc-by-4.0Jul 2020View details →
dryad36/100

Photodegradation of plant litter cuticles enhances microbial decomposition by increasing uptake of non-rainfall moisture

<p>Litter decomposition plays a central role in carbon cycling in terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. In drylands, which cover 40% of the Earth's land surface, photodegradation and biotic decomposition driven by non-rainfall moisture are important mechanisms of litter decay, though studies have only recently begun examining interactions between these two processes. We describe a novel priming mechanism in which photodegradation and biotic decay of the cuticle of plant litter increases litter absorption of non-rainfall moisture (fog, dew, and water vapor), supporting greater microbial decomposition.</p> <p>We used several field experiments in a coastal fog desert and a series of in situ observations to demonstrate a relationship between solar radiation, cuticle integrity, water absorption rates, and mass loss.</p> <p>Experimentally attenuating solar radiation for 36 months slowed mass loss, reduced cuticle degradation, and decreased litter moisture uptake relative to litter under ambient sunlight controls. In a separate field experiment, removing the cuticle of recently senesced grass tillers increased mass loss four-fold over 6 months relative to controls. Tillers with degraded cuticles also absorbed 3.8 times more water following an overnight dew event than did those with intact cuticles. Finally, fungal growth was consistently greater on the sun-facing side of in situ tillers than on the shaded side, coincident with greater cuticle degradation.</p> <p>We present a conceptual model where the cuticle of plant litter acts as a water-resistant barrier that is first degraded by solar radiation and surficial microbes, increasing litter's ability to absorb enough water during non-rainfall moisture events to support substantial biotic decomposition inside the tissue. Considering how photodegradation and non-rainfall moisture are both substantial drivers of litter decomposition in drylands, understanding how they interact under realistic field conditions will help us better predict how these systems are responding to changing climate regimes.</p>

opencc-zeroMar 2022View details →
dryad36/100

Data from: Litter decomposition affected by bamboo expansion is modulated by litter-mixing and microbial composition

<p>Litter decomposition is a key ecosystem process that drives carbon (C) and nutrient cycling, which could be affected by shifts in plant community composition caused by plant invasion or expansion. However, how changes in leaf litter composition (e.g., litter-mixing effect) and soil microbial community induced by shift in plant community composition affect decomposition remains elusive.</p> <p>Here, by deploying 432 litterbags (50-μm mesh screen), we treated leaf litter of bamboo (<em>Phyllostachys edulis­</em>) and tree species (in a mixture or alone) and decomposed them in forest sites expanded or not expanded by bamboo at three regions, to assess the effects of bamboo expansion on decomposition, microbial community structure and function.</p> <p>Bamboo expansion reduced microbial C to nitrogen (N) ratio and nutritional stress indicator (cy/pre), which was very likely ascribed to elevated N availability as a result of accelerated litter N release. The N loss of bamboo litter (28.1 ± 03%) was more than double of tree species litter (13.2 ± 3.1%), and decomposing litter of bamboo and tree species in a mixture increased litter N loss from 15.3± 3.1% to 25.9± 3.1% (by 69%). However, no consistent effect of litter type and litter treatment on C loss was observed. The non-additive litter-mixing effect is attributable to increased microbial nutrient use efficiency, which is illustrated by the interactive effect between litter treatment and cy/pre on decomposition. Moreover, the forest type interactively affected decomposition with cy/pre as ignoring litter treatment, where higher decay rate and litter N loss at bamboo expanded than non-expanded sites would be expected when both sites having comparable cy/pre, but the reality is that bamboo expansion tends to have lower cy/pre. These results imply a trade-off between introduced litter and nutrient use efficiency of local microbial community to drive decomposition.</p> <p>Our results demonstrate that litter decomposition affected by bamboo expansion was jointly modulated by litter-mixing and microbial composition, which sheds new insights on predicting changes in soil C and nutrient cycling induced by shifts in plant community composition.</p>

opencc-zeroMar 2022View details →
dryad36/100

Rare soil microbial taxa regulate the negative effects of land degradation drivers on soil organic matter decomposition

<p>1. Land degradation drivers, including loss in vegetation and eutrophication, are expected to impact soil biodiversity and functions in drylands world-wide. Soils contain both common and rare microbial taxa that drive multiple soil functions. Yet, little is known about how these microbial taxa influence the impacts of land degradation drivers on ecosystem functions. Obtaining this information is essential to determine whether rare taxa need to be protected, or if protecting only common taxa would be enough to sustain and protect ecosystem functions and services.</p> <p>2. Here, we conducted an experiment to investigate the effects of N-enrichment and vegetation loss (plant removal), which are two major land degradation drivers in semi-arid grasslands, on the diversities of common and rare soil bacterial and fungal taxa and soil function [soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition] in a long-term experiment.</p> <p>3. Six years after N-enrichment and vegetation loss, we found that N-enrichment decreased the alpha diversities of common and rare soil bacteria and rare soil fungi, while vegetation loss only decreased the alpha diversity of rare soil fungi. Both N-enrichment and vegetation loss altered the community composition of common and rare bacteria and fungi, except for the lack of response of common soil fungi to the vegetation loss. Moreover, both structural equation modelling and variation partitioning analyses show that land degradation drivers reduce SOM decomposition, and these were also indirectly associated with changes in the diversity of rare microbial taxa, especially that of bacteria.</p> <p>4.<em> Synthesis and applications</em>. Collectively, this work shows that land degradation can have negative impacts on soil biodiversity and functions, and the rare microbial taxa indirectly regulate the impacts of land degradation on ecosystem functioning. These results indicate that the rare microbial taxa can be used as one of the ecological indicators for identifying land degradation in the semi-arid grasslands. These findings are essential to understand the future impacts of desertification and land degradation on rare microbial taxa–function relationships in global drylands.</p>

opencc-zeroJan 2023View details →
dryad36/100

Tree diversity effects on litter decomposition are mediated by litterfall and microbial processes

<p>Forest ecosystems are critical for their carbon sequestration potential. Increasing tree diversity was shown to enhance both forest productivity and litter decomposition. Litter diversity increases litter decomposability by increasing the diversity of substrates offered to decomposers. However, the relative importance of litter decomposability and decomposer community in mediating tree diversity effects on decomposition remains unknown. Moreover, tree diversity modulation of litterfall spatial distribution, consequently, litter decomposition has rarely been tested. We studied tree diversity effects on leaf litter decomposition and its mediation by the amount of litterfall, litter species richness and decomposability, and soil microorganisms in a large-scale tree diversity experiment in subtropical China. Furthermore, we examined how litter functional identity and diversity affect leaf litter decomposability. Finally, we tested how leaf functional traits, tree biomass, and forest spatial structure drive the litterfall spatial distribution. We found evidence that tree species richness increased litter decomposition by increasing litter species richness and the amount of litterfall. We showed that soil microorganisms in this subtropical forest perform 84–87% of litter decomposition. Moreover, changes in the amount of litterfall and microbial decomposition explained 19–37% of the decomposition variance. Additionally, up to 20% of the microbial decomposition variance was explained by litter decomposability, while litter decomposability itself was determined by litter functional identity, diversity, and species richness. Tree species richness increased litter species richness and the amount of litterfall (+200% from monoculture to 8-species neighborhood). We further demonstrated that the amount of species-specific litterfall increased with increasing tree proximity and biomass and was modulated by leaf functional traits. These litterfall drivers increased the spatial heterogeneity of litter distribution, thus, litter decomposition. We highlighted multiple biomass- and diversity-mediated effects of tree diversity on ecosystem properties driving forest nutrient cycling. We conclude that considering spatial variability in biotic properties will improve our mechanistic understanding of ecosystem functioning.</p>

opencc-zeroJun 2023View details →
dryad36/100

Habitat specific effects of bark on wood decomposition: influences of fragmentation, nitrogen concentration, and microbial community composition

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publicFeb 2020View details →
dryad36/100

Data from: Litter decomposition affected by bamboo expansion is modulated by litter-mixing and microbial composition

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publicMar 2022View details →
dryad36/100

Rare soil microbial taxa regulate the negative effects of land degradation drivers on soil organic matter decomposition

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publicJan 2023View details →
dryad36/100

Photodegradation of plant litter cuticles enhances microbial decomposition by increasing uptake of non-rainfall moisture

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publicMar 2022View details →
dryad36/100

Data from: Coarse woody debris decomposition along an elevation gradient alleviates soil microbial P limitation but intensifies C limitation at Wuyishan National Park

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publicJun 2025View details →
dryad36/100

Tree diversity effects on litter decomposition are mediated by litterfall and microbial processes

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publicJan 2024View details →

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