Controls on long-term root and leaf litter decomposition in neotropical forests

Litter decomposition represents one of the largest annual fluxes of carbon (C) from terrestrial ecosystems, particularly for tropical forests, which are generally characterized by high net primary productivity and litter turnover. We used data from the Long-Term Intersite Decomposition Experiment (LIDET) to (1) determine the relative importance of climate and litter quality as predictors of decomposition rates, (2) compare patterns in root and leaf litter decomposition, (3) identify controls on net nitrogen (N) release during decay, and (4) compare LIDET rates with native species studies across five bioclimatically diverse neotropical forests. Leaf and root litter decomposed fastest in the lower montane rain and moist forests and slowest in the seasonally dry forest. The single best predictor of leaf litter decomposition was the climate decomposition index (CDI), explaining 51% of the variability across all sites. The strongest models for predicting leaf decomposition combined climate and litter chemistry, and included CDI and lignin ( R ²=0.69), or CDI, N and nonpolar extractives ( R ²=0.69). While we found no significant differences in decomposition rates between leaf and root litter, drivers of decomposition differed for the two tissue types. Initial stages of decomposition, determined as the time to 50% mass remaining, were driven primarily by precipitation for leaf litter ( R ²=0.93) and by temperature for root litter ( R ²=0.86). The rate of N release from leaf litter was positively correlated with initial N concentrations; net N immobilization increased with decreasing initial N concentrations. This study demonstrates that decomposition is sensitive to climate within and across tropical forests. Our results suggest that climate change and increasing N deposition in tropical forests are likely to result in significant changes to decomposition rates in this biome.     

Disturbance and the community structure of stream invertebrates: patch-specific effects and the role of refugia

1. We have previously shown that the impact of spates on stream invertebrates may differ among patches separated by distances of metres or less. Here we analyse the species-specific flood responses of larval chironomids and adult and near mature copepods living in different patch types. Four patch types (with eight replicates of each) were compared: the sandy mid-channel, fine sediments around dams, coarse sediments around dams, and dam debris. Additionally, since some fine sediment patches had been shown previously to act as flow refugia while others did not, we also examined species-specific responses in refugium vs. non-refugium fine sediment patches. Detrended correspondence analysis was used to test for changes in assemblage structure (species composition and relative abundance). 2. Species richness was not altered in a predictable manner by floods; the least stable patch types (mid-channel and coarse patches) did not necessarily show reduced species richness during the spate. 3. As indicated by the spread of DCA ordination scores, there was generally a high degree of overlap in the species composition among the four patch types. Nevertheless, copepod species composition and relative abundance were more similar among patch types during the spate than pre-spate. Spates may induce a re-distribution of copepod species among the patch types. Chironomid species composition and relative abundance were no more similar among patch types during the spate than pre- or post-spate. 4. For both chironomids and copepods, species composition and relative abundance (as assessed by DCA ordination scores) in refugium patches changed more in response to the spate than in the non-refugium patches. An influx of individuals from just a few species for each group was responsible for the change in assemblage structure. Thus, despite the fact that our past work has shown that refugia may confer enhanced resistance and resilience of copepod and chironomid assemblages in terms of total faunal abundances, the present work suggests that resistance and resilience of the species composition of the community apparently are no greater in refugium patches than in non-refugium patches.     

Cross‐biome transplants of plant litter show decomposition models extend to a broader climatic range but lose predictability at the decadal time scale

We analyzed results from 10‐year long field incubations of foliar and fine root litter from the Long‐term Intersite Decomposition Experiment Team (LIDET) study. We tested whether a variety of climate and litter quality variables could be used to develop regression models of decomposition parameters across wide ranges in litter quality and climate and whether these models changed over short to long time periods. Six genera of foliar and three genera of root litters were studied with a 10‐fold range in the ratio of acid unhydrolyzable fraction (AUF, or ‘lignin’) to N. Litter was incubated at 27 field sites across numerous terrestrial biomes including arctic and alpine tundra, temperate and tropical forests, grasslands and warm deserts. We used three separate mathematical models of first‐order (exponential) decomposition, emphasizing either the first year or the entire decade. One model included the proportion of relatively stable material as an asymptote. For short‐term (first‐year) decomposition, nonlinear regressions of exponential or power function form were obtained with r² values of 0.82 and 0.64 for foliar and fine‐root litter, respectively, across all biomes included. AUF and AUF : N ratio were the most explanative litter quality variables, while the combined temperature‐moisture terms AET (actual evapotranspiration) and CDI (climatic decomposition index) were best for climatic effects. Regressions contained some systematic bias for grasslands and arctic and boreal sites, but not for humid tropical forests or temperate deciduous and coniferous forests. The ability of the regression approach to fit climate‐driven decomposition models of the 10‐year field results was dramatically reduced from the ability to capture drivers of short‐term decomposition. Future work will require conceptual and methodological improvements to investigate processes controlling decadal‐scale litter decomposition, including the formation of a relatively stable fraction and its subsequent decomposition.     

The response of heterotrophic activity and carbon cycling to nitrogen additions and warming in two tropical soils

Nitrogen (N) deposition is projected to increase significantly in tropical regions in the coming decades, where changes in climate are also expected. Additional N and warming each have the potential to alter soil carbon (C) storage via changes in microbial activity and decomposition, but little is known about the combined effects of these global change factors in tropical ecosystems. In this study, we used controlled laboratory incubations of soils from a long‐term N fertilization experiment to explore the sensitivity of soil C to increased N in two N‐rich tropical forests. We found that fertilization corresponded to significant increases in bulk soil C concentrations, and decreases in C loss via heterotrophic respiration (P< 0.05). The increase in soil C was not uniform among C pools, however. The active soil C pool decomposed faster with fertilization, while slowly cycling C pools had longer turnover times. These changes in soil C cycling with N additions corresponded to the responses of two groups of microbial extracellular enzymes. Smaller active C pools corresponded to increased hydrolytic enzyme activities; longer turnover times of the slowly cycling C pool corresponded to reduced activity of oxidative enzymes, which degrade more complex C compounds, in fertilized soils. Warming increased soil respiration overall, and N fertilization significantly increased the temperature sensitivity of slowly cycling C pools in both forests. In the lower elevation forest, respired CO₂ from fertilized cores had significantly higher Δ¹⁴C values than control soils, indicating losses of relatively older soil C. These results indicate that soil C storage is sensitive to both N deposition and warming in N‐rich tropical soils, with interacting effects of these two global change factors. N deposition has the potential to increase total soil C stocks in tropical forests, but the long‐term stability of this added C will likely depend on future changes in temperature.     

The impact of small chironomid grazers on epiphytic algal abundance and dispersion

• 1 A combination of field and laboratory experiments was used to assess the impact of chironomid grazers on taxonomic composition, abundance and dispersion of epiphytic algal assemblages.
• 2 In the laboratory, Psectrodadius sp. reduced the biovolume of algal species preferred as food and increased the degree of clumping of non-preferred species. Thienemanniella cf. fusca had both positive and negative effects (depending on the algal species) on the biovolumes of algal species preferred as food and increased the degree of clumping of non-preferred species.
• 3 In field exclosures, no effect of removal of chironomid larvae from the grazer assemblage could be detected in autumn or winter experiments. A third, longer removal experiment, conducted in summer, resulted in increased biovolumes of edible Cosmarium spp. and Aphanocapsa spp., preferred foods of chironomid larvae. Biovolumes of Lyngbya sp., Eulbochaete spp. and Oedogortium spp., filamentous taxa used extensively in larval case construction, also increased. Chironomid larvae had no effect on total algal biovolume or biovolume of large unicellular algae.
• 4 Chironomid larvae can influence epiphytic algal assemblages through selective grazing by reducing the biovolumes of preferred foods and through case-building activity by reducing the biovolumes of construction materials.

     

Biosynthesis of chlorophyll P-680 of photosystem II in greening leaves of plants adapted to heat shock

In etiolated pea and maize leaves illuminated after incubation at 38 degreesC, a new dark reaction was shown manifested in the bathochromic shift of spectral bands and accompanied by esterification of the product of protochlorophyllide photochemical reduction--Chld 684/676: Chld 684/676 --> Chl 688/680. After completion of the reaction a rapid (20-30 sec) quenching of the fluorescence of the reaction product (Chl 688/680) was observed. The reaction Chld 684/676 --> Chl 688/680 is inhibited under anaerobic conditions and in the presence of cyanide; the reaction accompanied by Chl 688/680 fluorescence quenching is not observed in pea mutants with impaired function of photosystem II reaction centers. The spectral properties of the formed Chl form with the absorption maximum at 680 nm, fluorescence quenching, and simultaneous synthesis of pheophytin suggest that the reaction is connected with the chlorophyll of photosystem II reaction center--P-680.