Abstract
Through litter decomposition enormous amounts of carbon is emitted to the atmosphere. Numerous large-scale decomposition experiments have been conducted focusing on this fundamental soil process in order to understand the controls on the terrestrial carbon transfer to the atmosphere. However, previous studies were mostly based on site-specific litter and methodologies, adding major uncertainty to syntheses, comparisons and meta-analyses across different experiments and sites. In the TeaComposition initiative, the potential litter decomposition is investigated by using standardized substrates (Rooibos and Green tea) for comparison of litter mass loss at 336 sites (ranging from −9 to +26 °C MAT and from 60 to 3113 mm MAP) across different ecosystems. In this study we tested the effect of climate (temperature and moisture), litter type and land-use on early stage decomposition (3 months) across nine biomes. We show that litter quality was the predominant controlling factor in early stage litter decomposition, which explained about 65% of the variability in litter decomposition at a global scale. The effect of climate, on the other hand, was not litter specific and explained <0.5% of the variation for Green tea and 5% for Rooibos tea, and was of significance only under unfavorable decomposition conditions (i.e. xeric versus mesic environments). When the data were aggregated at the biome scale, climate played a significant role on decomposition of both litter types (explaining 64% of the variation for Green tea and 72% for Rooibos tea). No significant effect of land-use on early stage litter decomposition was noted within the temperate biome. Our results indicate that multiple drivers are affecting early stage litter mass loss with litter quality being dominant. In order to be able to quantify the relative importance of the different drivers over time, long-term studies combined with experimental trials are needed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1369-1394 |
| Number of pages | 26 |
| Journal | Science of the Total Environment |
| Volume | 628-629 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jul 1 2018 |
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All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Environmental Engineering
- Environmental Chemistry
- Waste Management and Disposal
- Pollution
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Early stage litter decomposition across biomes. / TeaComposition.
In: Science of the Total Environment, Vol. 628-629, 01.07.2018, p. 1369-1394.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Early stage litter decomposition across biomes
AU - TeaComposition
AU - Djukic, Ika
AU - Kepfer-Rojas, Sebastian
AU - Schmidt, Inger Kappel
AU - Larsen, Klaus Steenberg
AU - Beier, Claus
AU - Berg, Björn
AU - Verheyen, Kris
AU - Caliman, Adriano
AU - Paquette, Alain
AU - Gutiérrez-Girón, Alba
AU - Humber, Alberto
AU - Valdecantos, Alejandro
AU - Petraglia, Alessandro
AU - Alexander, Heather
AU - Augustaitis, Algirdas
AU - Saillard, Amélie
AU - Fernández, Ana Carolina Ruiz
AU - Sousa, Ana I.
AU - Lillebø, Ana I.
AU - da Rocha Gripp, Anderson
AU - Francez, André Jean
AU - Fischer, Andrea
AU - Bohner, Andreas
AU - Malyshev, Andrey
AU - Andrić, Andrijana
AU - Smith, Andy
AU - Stanisci, Angela
AU - Seres, Anikó
AU - Schmidt, Anja
AU - Avila, Anna
AU - Probst, Anne
AU - Ouin, Annie
AU - Khuroo, Anzar A.
AU - Verstraeten, Arne
AU - Palabral-Aguilera, Arely N.
AU - Stefanski, Artur
AU - Gaxiola, Aurora
AU - Muys, Bart
AU - Bosman, Bernard
AU - Ahrends, Bernd
AU - Parker, Bill
AU - Sattler, Birgit
AU - Yang, Bo
AU - Juráni, Bohdan
AU - Erschbamer, Brigitta
AU - Ortiz, Carmen Eugenia Rodriguez
AU - Christiansen, Casper T.
AU - Carol Adair, E.
AU - Meredieu, Céline
AU - Mony, Cendrine
PY - 2018/7/1
Y1 - 2018/7/1
N2 - Through litter decomposition enormous amounts of carbon is emitted to the atmosphere. Numerous large-scale decomposition experiments have been conducted focusing on this fundamental soil process in order to understand the controls on the terrestrial carbon transfer to the atmosphere. However, previous studies were mostly based on site-specific litter and methodologies, adding major uncertainty to syntheses, comparisons and meta-analyses across different experiments and sites. In the TeaComposition initiative, the potential litter decomposition is investigated by using standardized substrates (Rooibos and Green tea) for comparison of litter mass loss at 336 sites (ranging from −9 to +26 °C MAT and from 60 to 3113 mm MAP) across different ecosystems. In this study we tested the effect of climate (temperature and moisture), litter type and land-use on early stage decomposition (3 months) across nine biomes. We show that litter quality was the predominant controlling factor in early stage litter decomposition, which explained about 65% of the variability in litter decomposition at a global scale. The effect of climate, on the other hand, was not litter specific and explained <0.5% of the variation for Green tea and 5% for Rooibos tea, and was of significance only under unfavorable decomposition conditions (i.e. xeric versus mesic environments). When the data were aggregated at the biome scale, climate played a significant role on decomposition of both litter types (explaining 64% of the variation for Green tea and 72% for Rooibos tea). No significant effect of land-use on early stage litter decomposition was noted within the temperate biome. Our results indicate that multiple drivers are affecting early stage litter mass loss with litter quality being dominant. In order to be able to quantify the relative importance of the different drivers over time, long-term studies combined with experimental trials are needed.
AB - Through litter decomposition enormous amounts of carbon is emitted to the atmosphere. Numerous large-scale decomposition experiments have been conducted focusing on this fundamental soil process in order to understand the controls on the terrestrial carbon transfer to the atmosphere. However, previous studies were mostly based on site-specific litter and methodologies, adding major uncertainty to syntheses, comparisons and meta-analyses across different experiments and sites. In the TeaComposition initiative, the potential litter decomposition is investigated by using standardized substrates (Rooibos and Green tea) for comparison of litter mass loss at 336 sites (ranging from −9 to +26 °C MAT and from 60 to 3113 mm MAP) across different ecosystems. In this study we tested the effect of climate (temperature and moisture), litter type and land-use on early stage decomposition (3 months) across nine biomes. We show that litter quality was the predominant controlling factor in early stage litter decomposition, which explained about 65% of the variability in litter decomposition at a global scale. The effect of climate, on the other hand, was not litter specific and explained <0.5% of the variation for Green tea and 5% for Rooibos tea, and was of significance only under unfavorable decomposition conditions (i.e. xeric versus mesic environments). When the data were aggregated at the biome scale, climate played a significant role on decomposition of both litter types (explaining 64% of the variation for Green tea and 72% for Rooibos tea). No significant effect of land-use on early stage litter decomposition was noted within the temperate biome. Our results indicate that multiple drivers are affecting early stage litter mass loss with litter quality being dominant. In order to be able to quantify the relative importance of the different drivers over time, long-term studies combined with experimental trials are needed.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85042424360&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85042424360&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.01.012
DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.01.012
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85042424360
VL - 628-629
SP - 1369
EP - 1394
JO - Science of the Total Environment
JF - Science of the Total Environment
SN - 0048-9697
ER -