Higher rates of decomposition in standing vs. surface litter in a Mediterranean ecosystem during the dry and the wet seasons

Gliksman, Daniel; Navon, Yael; Dumbur, Rita; Haenel, Sabine; Grünzweig, José M.

doi:10.1007/s11104-018-3696-4

Cited by 15 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…However, when assessing mountain grasslands there are differences in phenological cycles between elevation belts (Liu et al , 2014; Leifeld et al , 2015), which may result in more complex vegetation–CO 2 exchange interactions than expected. In addition, there are other vegetation fractions, such as standing dead biomass (SDB,dead biomass attached to the plant) and litter (dead plant material, detached from the plant and laying on the soil surface), which are present in considerable amounts in grasslands, and whose specific role as CO 2 exchange drivers has been barely considered (Leitner et al , 2016; Gliksman et al , 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phenology and plant functional type dominance drive CO₂ exchange in seminatural grasslands in the Pyrenees

et al. 2020

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Understanding the mechanisms underlying net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) in mountain grasslands is important to quantify their relevance in the global carbon budget. However, complex interactions between environmental variables and vegetation on NEE remain unclear; and there is a lack of empirical data, especially from the high elevations and the Mediterranean region. A chamber-based survey of CO2 exchange measurements was carried out in two climatically contrasted grasslands (montane v. subalpine) of the Pyrenees; assessing the relative contribution of phenology and environmental variables on CO2 exchange at the seasonal scale, and the influence of plant functional type dominance (grasses, forbs and legumes) on the NEE light response. Results show that phenology plays a crucial role as a CO2 exchange driver, suggesting a differential behaviour of the vegetation community depending on the environment. The subalpine grassland had a more delayed phenology compared to the montane, being more temperature than water constrained. However, temperature increased net CO2 uptake at a higher rate in the subalpine than in the montane grassland. During the peak biomass, productivity (+74%) and net CO2 uptake (NEE +48%) were higher in the subalpine grassland than in the montane grassland. The delayed phenology at the subalpine grassland reduced vegetation's sensitivity to summer dryness, and CO2 exchange fluxes were less constrained by low soil water content. The NEE light response suggested that legume dominated plots had higher net CO2 uptake per unit of biomass than grasses. Detailed information on phenology and vegetation composition is essential to understand elevation and climatic differences in CO2 exchange.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phenology and plant functional type dominance drive CO₂ exchange in seminatural grasslands in the Pyrenees

et al. 2020

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“…The most recent conceptual framework for how leaf litter decomposes and returns C to the atmosphere as CO 2 suggests that there is not a strong hierarchy of global, regional and local controls on C turnover, with all controls demonstrating importance at different scales (Cornwell et al ., 2008; Pietsch et al ., 2014; Keiluweit et al ., 2015; Bradford et al ., 2016; Bradford et al ., 2017). As such, an updated vision of the controls on leaf and root litter decomposition is emerging (Hättenschwiler & Jørgensen, 2010; Cotrufo et al ., 2013; Bradford et al ., 2017; See et al ., 2019; Berenstecher et al ., 2020, 2021), coupled with the identification of underappreciated controls on plant litter decomposition such as sunlight exposure (Austin & Vivanco, 2006; Brandt et al ., 2009; Lee et al ., 2012), litter position (Liu et al ., 2015; Gliksman et al ., 2018; Berenstecher et al ., 2021) and precipitation seasonality (Almagro et al ., 2015; Berenstecher et al ., 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The magnitude of C loss deriving directly from volatile products of photodegradation is most evident in seasonally dry or arid ecosystems (Austin & Vivanco, 2006; Austin & Ballaré, 2010; Rutledge et al ., 2010; Ma et al ., 2017; Berenstecher et al ., 2020, 2021), but photofacilitation appears to be important in a broad range of ecosystems, with almost universal stimulation of biotic decomposition of plant litter that has been exposed to sunlight (e.g. Brandt et al ., 2010; Foereid et al ., 2010; King et al ., 2012; Araujo & Austin, 2015; Baker & Allison, 2015; Gaxiola & Armesto, 2015; Austin et al ., 2016; Gliksman et al ., 2018; Méndez et al ., 2019; Pieristè et al ., 2019; Day et al ., 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dose–responses for solar radiation exposure reveal high sensitivity of microbial decomposition to changes in plant litter quality that occur during photodegradation

2022

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Plant litter decomposition is a key process for carbon (C) turnover in terrestrial ecosystems. Sunlight has been shown to cause and accelerate C release in semiarid ecosystems, yet the dose-response relationships for these effects have not been evaluated.We conducted a two-phase experiment where plant litter of three species was subjected to a broad range of cumulative solar radiation (CSR) exposures under field conditions. We then evaluated the relationships between CSR exposure and abiotic mass loss, litter quality and the subsequent biotic decomposition and microbial activity in litter.Dose-response relationships demonstrated that CSR exposure was modestly correlated with abiotic mass loss but highly significantly correlated with lignin degradation, saccharification, microbial activity and biotic decay of plant litter across all species. Moreover, a comparison of these dose-response relationships suggested that small reductions in litter lignin due to exposure to sunlight may have large consequences for biotic decay.These results provide strong support for a model that postulates a critical role for lignin photodegradation in the mechanism of photofacilitation and demonstrate that, under natural field conditions, biotic degradation of plant litter is linearly related with the dose of solar radiation received by the material before coming into contact with decomposer microorganisms.

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“…Traditionally, most researchers consider litter falling on the soil or water surface to be the starting point of decomposition (Berg & McClaugherty, 2003; Li et al, 2017; Xiong et al, 2014). However, some senescent leaves remain standing for months or more before falling to the soil or water surface as litter (Angst et al, 2017; Gliksman et al, 2018; Pu et al, 2014; Wang, Liu, et al, 2017). In fact, standing litter exists in various ecosystems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, emergent macrophytes are highly exposed to the atmosphere before senescent materials collapse into the water in wetland ecosystems (Pu et al, 2014). In terrestrial ecosystems, shrubs and grasses (Deshmukh, 1985; Gliksman et al, 2018; Wang, Liu, et al, 2017) as well as some trees, such as beeches ( Fagus spp.) and oaks ( Quercus spp.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

UV radiation doubles microbial degradation of standing litter in a subtropical forest

et al. 2022

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1. UV radiation has been recognized as a direct driver of litter decomposition by photodegrading organic matter in dryland ecosystems. However, the importance and mechanism of UV radiation on litter decomposition, especially on standing litter, in humid forest ecosystems remain unclear.2. We conducted a factorial experiment in a humid subtropical forest gap, manipulating the effects of UV radiation on the decomposition of standing litter under different microbial conditions.3. After 366 days of standing incubation, under normal conditions (UV pass with microorganisms), up to 40.63% of the litter mass was lost. However, under a UV pass without microorganisms, litter mass loss was only 16.30%. Under a UV block, the mass loss of litter with microorganisms was 27.68% and that of litter without microorganisms was 15.54%. Without microorganisms, UV radiation had no significant effect on the mass loss of litter carbon. However, UV radiation increased the DOC concentration of litter. And in the presence of microorganisms, UV radiation contributed to an increased mass loss of lignin by 16.72% and of cellulose by 14.75%. No negative effects of UV radiation on microorganisms were observed. These results suggest that UV radiation increased the net mass loss of litter by 106.67%, and this doubling promotion was achieved through microbial degradation.4. Synthesis. The increase in microbial degradation under UV radiation may be linked to the increased degradability of lignin and cellulose caused by photodegradation. Our study indicates that direct photodegradation by UV radiation could be weak in subtropical forests, but UV photofacilitation generates rapid turnover of carbon in this system.

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Higher rates of decomposition in standing vs. surface litter in a Mediterranean ecosystem during the dry and the wet seasons

Cited by 15 publications

References 54 publications

Phenology and plant functional type dominance drive CO₂ exchange in seminatural grasslands in the Pyrenees

Phenology and plant functional type dominance drive CO₂ exchange in seminatural grasslands in the Pyrenees

Dose–responses for solar radiation exposure reveal high sensitivity of microbial decomposition to changes in plant litter quality that occur during photodegradation

UV radiation doubles microbial degradation of standing litter in a subtropical forest

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Higher rates of decomposition in standing vs. surface litter in a Mediterranean ecosystem during the dry and the wet seasons

Cited by 15 publications

References 54 publications

Phenology and plant functional type dominance drive CO2 exchange in seminatural grasslands in the Pyrenees

Phenology and plant functional type dominance drive CO2 exchange in seminatural grasslands in the Pyrenees

Dose–responses for solar radiation exposure reveal high sensitivity of microbial decomposition to changes in plant litter quality that occur during photodegradation

UV radiation doubles microbial degradation of standing litter in a subtropical forest

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Phenology and plant functional type dominance drive CO₂ exchange in seminatural grasslands in the Pyrenees

Phenology and plant functional type dominance drive CO₂ exchange in seminatural grasslands in the Pyrenees