Interacting effects of leaf litter species and macrofauna on decomposition in different litter environments |
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| Authors: | Eleanor M. Slade Terhi Riutta |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Tubney House, Abingdon Road, Tubney, Abingdon OX13 5QL, UK;2. Spatial Foodweb Ecology Group, Department of Applied Biology, PO Box 27 (Latokartanonkaari 5), FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland;3. Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK;1. Climate and Global Dynamics Division, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO 80307, USA;2. Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USA;3. Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546, USA;4. School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA;5. Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA;1. Department of Ecological Science, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands;2. Department of Environmental Systems Science, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Doshisha University, Kyoto 610-0394, Japan;1. State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110164, PR China;2. Huitong Experimental Station of Forest Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Huitong 418307, PR China;3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China;4. Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, PR China;1. College of Geographical Science, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024, China;2. Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024, China;3. Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, 101 Vera King Farris Drive, Galloway, NJ 08205, USA;1. College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024, China;2. Jilin Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024, China;1. German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany;2. Center for Environmental Research and Technology, General and Theoretical Ecology, University of Bremen, Leobener Str, 28359 Bremen, Germany;3. Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany;4. Institute of Ecology, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Dornburger Strasse 159, 07743 Jena, Germany;5. Department of Silviculture, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Freiburg, Tennenbacherstrasse 4, 79106 Freiburg, Germany;6. Geobotany, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Schänzlestr. 1, 79104 Freiburg, Germany;7. Institute of Biology/Geobotany and Botanical Garden, Martin Luther University Halle Wittenberg, Am Kirchtor 1, 06108 Halle (Saale), Germany;8. Institute for Terrestrial Ecosystems, Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, Universitaetsstrasse 16, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland |
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| Abstract: | The leaf litter environment (single species versus mixed species), and interactions between litter diversity and macrofauna are thought to be important in influencing decomposition rates. However, the role of soil macrofauna in the breakdown of different species of leaf litter is poorly understood. In this study we examine the multiple biotic controls of decomposition – litter quality, soil macrofauna and litter environment and their interactions. The influence of soil macrofauna and litter environment on the decomposition of six deciduous tree species (Fraxinus excelsior L., Acer pseudoplatanus L., Acer campestre L., Corylus avellana L., Quercus robur L., Fagus sylvatica L.) was investigated in a temperate forest, Wytham Woods, Southern England. We used litterbags that selectively excluded macrofauna to assess the relative importance of macrofauna versus microbial, micro and mesofauna decomposition, and placed single species bags in either conspecific single species or mixed species litter environments. The study was designed to separate plant species composition effects on litter decomposition rates, allowing us to evaluate whether mixed species litter environments affect decomposition rates compared to single species litter environments, and if so whether the effects vary among litter species, over time, and with regard to the presence of soil macrofauna. All species had faster rates of decomposition when macrofauna were present, with 22–41% of the total mass loss attributed to macrofauna. Macrofauna were most important for easily decomposable species as soon as the leaves were placed on the ground, but were most important for recalcitrant species after nine months in the field. The mass loss rates did not differ between mixed and single species litter environments, indicating that observed differences between single species and mixed species litterbags in previous field studies are due to the direct contact of neighbouring species inside the litterbag rather than the litter environment in which they are placed. |
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