Leaf litter decomposition in urban forests: test of the home-field advantage hypothesis

Abstract

& Key message The home-field advantage (HFA) hypothesis states that leaf litter decomposes faster in the habitat from which it was derived (i.e., home) than beneath a different plant species (i.e., away from home). We conducted reciprocal translocation experiments to explore the HFA effect of urban leaf litter decomposition. HFA of litter decomposition varied with species and season, and interacted with nutrient and environmental dynamics. & Context Although forest litterfall and subsequent decay are acknowledged as a critical factor regulating nutrient cycling, soil fertility, and ecosystem carbon budgets in natural ecosystems, they remain less understood in urban ecosystems and the evidence for HFA has not been universal. & Aims We select Beijing Olympic Forest Park (BOFP), the largest urban forest park of Asia, as a case study to explore HFA of leaf litter decomposition in urban forest ecosystems. We investigated the litterfall production, mass loss, and nutrient dynamics of two species (Robinia pseudoacacia and Pinus armandii) commonly planted in Beijing urban forest ecosystems. & Methods Variations in litterfall production were measured in R. pseudoacacia stand and P. armandii stands over 12 months. HFA of litter decomposition was explored by reciprocal leaf litter translocation experiments, and leaves were analyzed for C, N, and P during decomposition of 297 days. & Results Two major peaks of total litterfall in R. pseudoacacia were observed, while litterfall in P. armandii followed a unimodal distribution pattern, which were similar to seasonal patterns of broadleaf and coniferous litter production in natural forest ecosystems. The loss of initial ash-free mass of R. pseudoacacia (19 %) was about twofold of P. armandii (11 %). The litter quality (e.g., initial C, N, and P) might have contributed to the differences between broadleaf and coniferous species. Leaf litter decomposition of R. pseudoacacia showed seasonal switch of HFA. In contrast, P. armandii showed a constant HFA during the whole study period. & Conclusion HFA of litter decomposition in urban forests varied by species and season. We found the seasonal switch of the HFA effect for R. pseudoacacia, which has not been observed in nonurban ecosystems. More observations or experiments with multiple species or mixed species across various cities are needed to understand the processes and mechanisms of litter decomposition and nutrient dynamics in the urban ecosystems. Keywords Decay rate coefficient. Home-field advantage (HFA). Litter production. Mass loss. Nitrogen and phosphorus gain or loss. Urban environment * Shuqing Zhao

Small‐scale and multi‐species approaches for assessing litter decomposition and soil dynamics in high‐diversity forests

“…Only for one species , M. insignis , did litter register a slightly higher decomposition in the home habitat; the 4.54% increase in decomposition shown for M. insignis is close to what was found in previous studies that confirmed the HFA hypothesis (Ayres et al., ; Veen et al., ). Our overall results agree instead with studies that rejected the HFA hypothesis (Barlow et al., ; Gießelmann et al., ; St. John et al., ) or did not fully support it (Chomel et al., ; Jewell et al., ; Sun and Zhao, ). This could be explained by differences in litter quality, which may play a more relevant role on decomposition, as stated by Cornwell et al.…”

“…One mechanism that has been proposed to describe part of this remaining variation is the home‐field advantage (HFA) hypothesis, which predicts that litter will decompose faster in its “home” habitat (i.e., around the plant species from which it originates) rather than away from it, likely because of adapted decomposer communities (Gholz et al., ; Ayres et al., ; Austin et al., ). This hypothesis has been tested in different habitats, ecosystems, and in laboratory experiments, providing contrasting results: it has been alternately confirmed (Ayres et al., ; Milcu and Manning, ; Veen et al., ), dismissed (Gießelmann et al., ; St. John et al., ), and shown mixed results (Chomel et al., ; Jewell et al., ; Sun and Zhao, ). Most of the literature on the HFA hypothesis, and on litter decomposition more broadly, has assessed the validity of this hypothesis with reciprocal transplant experiments between two or more ecosystems (forest vs. grassland) or different forest types, both in the field (Horodecki and Jagodzinski, ; Parker et al., ) and in common gardens (Hobbie et al., ).…”

Forest canopy restoration has indirect effects on litter decomposition and no effect on denitrification

“…, (xiii) Cortez , Pouyat et al. , (xiv) Cortez , Sun and Zhao , Vitousek et al. , (xv) Robertson and Groffman , Klemedtsson et al.…”

“…, Pouyat et al. , Cortez , Sun and Zhao ). These factors can be indirectly controlled by forest canopy openness, landscape topography, and soil texture.…”

“…The main factors thought to control rates of litter decomposition include atmospheric relative humidity (Aerts 1997), the herbaceous plant layer , Ossola et al 2016, Zirbel et al 2017, and soil temperature and moisture (Vitousek et al 1994, Pouyat et al 1997, Cortez 1998, Sun and Zhao 2016. These factors can be indirectly controlled by forest canopy openness, landscape topography, and soil texture.…”