Changes in litter decomposition rate of dominant plants in a semi-arid steppe across different land-use types: Soil moisture, not home-field advantage, plays a dominant role

Wang, Yanan; Li, Frank Y.; Song, Xin; Wang, Xiaoshuai; Guga, Suri; Baoyin, Taogetao

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2020.107119

Cited by 38 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…We found faster decomposition of shoot and root at higher altitude, which accompanies changes in plant and soil properties, and is in line with previous results [ 31 ]. The effects of altitude on decomposition depend on the critical limiting factor [ 39 ], which seems to be soil moisture but not the temperature in this research and is consistent with previous studies [ 31 , 37 , 38 , 40 ]. Although, it was reported that the temperature decreased and accordingly reduced the activities of litter decomposers with the rise in altitude, resulting in lower litter decomposition [ 33 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Generally, the temperature decreases, and the activities of litter-decomposers are accordingly reduced, resulting in lower litter decomposition with an increase in altitude [ 33 ], especially in cold areas where the mean annual temperature (MAT) is lower than 6.75 °C [ 7 ]. However, some studies have showed that moisture, but not temperature, was the key limiting factor affecting litter decomposition [ 36 , 37 , 38 ]. Therefore, the primary limitation of altitude on litter decomposition varies among ecosystems [ 39 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mowing Facilitated Shoot and Root Litter Decomposition Compared with Grazing

Zhang

Wei

Liu

et al. 2022

Plants

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Shoot and root litter are two major sources of soil organic carbon, and their decomposition is a crucial nutrient cycling process in the ecosystem. Altitude and land use could affect litter decomposition by changing the environment in mountain grassland ecosystems. However, few studies have investigated the effects of land use on litter decomposition in different altitudes. We examined how land-use type (mowing vs. grazing) affected shoot and root litter decomposition of a dominant grass (Bromus inermis) in mountain grasslands with two different altitudes in northwest China. Litterbags with 6 g of shoot or root were fixed in the plots to decompose for one year. The mass loss rate of the litter, and the environmental attributes related to decomposition, were measured. Litter decomposed faster in mowing than grazing plots, resulting from the higher plant cover and soil moisture but lower bulk density, which might promote soil microbial activities. Increased altitude promoted litter decomposition, and was positively correlated with soil moisture, soil organic carbon (SOC), and β-xylosidase activity. Our results highlight the diverse influences of land-use type on litter decomposition in different altitudes. The positive effects of mowing on shoot decomposition were stronger in lower than higher altitude compared to grazing due to the stronger responses of the plant (e.g., litter and aboveground biomass) and soil (e.g., soil moisture, soil bulk density, and SOC). Soil nutrients (e.g., SOC and soil total nitrogen) seemed to play essential roles in root decomposition, which was increased in mowing plots at lower altitude and vice versa at higher altitude. Therefore, grazing significantly decreased root mass loss at higher altitude, but slightly increased at lower altitude compared to mowing. Our results indicated that the land use might variously regulate the innate differences of the plant and edaphic conditions along an altitude gradient, exerting complex impacts in litter decomposition and further influencing carbon and nutrient cycling in mountain grasslands.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mowing Facilitated Shoot and Root Litter Decomposition Compared with Grazing

Zhang

Wei

Liu

et al. 2022

Plants

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The changes in mass loss rate before and after day 3 were likely due to the differences in metabolic preferences and substrate affinities of the decomposers. Previous studies on plant decomposition also showed a similar trend, fast decomposition in the early stage, and then a slow decomposition rate ( Horodecki and Jagodzinski, 2019 ; Wang et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

Temporal Changes in the Function of Bacterial Assemblages Associated With Decomposing Earthworms

Sun

2021

Front. Microbiol.

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Soil invertebrate corpse decomposition is an ecologically significant, yet poorly understood, process affecting nutrient biogeochemical cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. Here, we attempted to answer how the substrate chemistry and microbial community change during soil invertebrate (earthworm) decomposition and what roles microbes play in this process. Specifically, the dead earthworms (Amynthas corticis) were buried in two soils where the earthworms inhabited, or not, until more than 50% of the earthworm mass was lost. For both soils, earthworms decomposed faster during the early stage (between 0 and 3 days), as reflected by the higher rate of decomposition and increased accumulation of dissolved organic matter (DOM). This decomposition pattern was paralleled by bacterial community dynamics, where bacterial richness and diversity were significantly higher during early decomposition (p < 0.05) with the relative abundances of many genera decreasing as decomposition progressed. The succession of the bacterial community composition was significantly correlated with time-course changes in DOM composition (p < 0.05). Particularly, more functional groups (e.g., microbes associated with carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur cycling) were identified to be linked with the change of a specific DOM type during the early decomposition phase. By exploring the ecologically important process of soil invertebrate decomposition and its associated bacterial communities, this study provides evidence, e.g., a statistically significant positive correlation between bacterial community and DOM compositions, which supports the widely recognized yet less-tested microbial community structure–function relationship hypothesis in invertebrate decomposition.

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“…However, in many cases, no HFA or even negative HFA effects are observed (e.g. Bachega et al., 2016; Gießelmann et al., 2011; Luai et al., 2019; St. John et al., 2011; Wang, Li, et al., 2020). This variation in the presence and/or strength of HFA effects has been attributed to several factors, including the degree of dissimilarity in ‘home’ and ‘away’ plant communities (Veen et al., 2015), litter lability versus recalcitrance (Ayres et al., 2009), substrate–matrix interactions (Freschet et al., 2012), plant phenology (Pearse et al., 2014) and plant–decomposer interactions (Austin et al., 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the roles of microbial functional breadth and home‐field advantage in leaf litter decomposition

et al. 2022

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1. Soil biota are increasingly recognized as a primary control on litter decomposition at both local and regional scales, but the precise mechanisms by which biota influence litter decomposition have yet to be identified. 2.There are multiple hypothesized mechanisms by which biotic communities may influence litter decomposition-for example, decomposer communities may be specially adapted to local litter inputs and therefore decompose litter from their home ecosystem at elevated rates. This mechanism is known as the home-field advantage (HFA) hypothesis. Alternatively, litter decomposition rates may simply depend upon the range of metabolic functions present within a decomposer community. This mechanism is known as the functional breadth (FB) hypothesis. However, the relative importance of HFA and FB in litter decomposition is unknown, as are the microbial community drivers of HFA and FB. Potential relationships/trade-offs between microbial HFA and FB are also unknown.3. To investigate the roles of HFA and FB in litter decomposition, we collected litter and soil from six different ecosystems across the continental US and conducted a full factorial litter × soil inoculum experiment. We measured litter decomposition (i.e. cumulative CO 2 -C respired) over 150 days and used an analytical model to calculate the HFA and FB of each microbial decomposer community. 4. Our results indicated clear functional differences among decomposer communities, that is, litter sources were decomposed differently by different decomposer communities. These differences were primarily due to differences in FB between different communities, while HFA effects were less evident. 5. We observed a positive relationship between HFA and the disturbance-sensitive bacterial phylum Verruomicrobia, suggesting that HFA may be an important mechanism in undisturbed environments. We also observed a negative relationship between bacterial r versus K strategists and FB, suggesting an important link between microbial life-history strategies and litter decomposition functions. 6. Microbial FB and HFA exhibited a strong unimodal relationship, where high HFA was observed at intermediate FB values, while low HFA was associated with | 1259 Functional Ecology OSBURN et al.

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Changes in litter decomposition rate of dominant plants in a semi-arid steppe across different land-use types: Soil moisture, not home-field advantage, plays a dominant role

Cited by 38 publications

References 54 publications

Mowing Facilitated Shoot and Root Litter Decomposition Compared with Grazing

Mowing Facilitated Shoot and Root Litter Decomposition Compared with Grazing

Temporal Changes in the Function of Bacterial Assemblages Associated With Decomposing Earthworms

Evaluating the roles of microbial functional breadth and home‐field advantage in leaf litter decomposition

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