Litter type, but not plant cover, regulates initial litter decomposition and fungal community structure in a recolonising cutover peatland

Trinder, Clare; Johnson, David; Artz, Rebekka

doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2008.12.006

Cited by 32 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…However, this interaction explained only 5.4% of the total variance, and we could not detect any clear pattern from this interaction. The relatively weak immediate effects of live plants on decomposition is in line with the data from a peatland study in Scottland showing that the presence of a plant in soil cores had no effect on litter decomposition of four typical peatland species after 12 months (Trinder et al 2009). Similarly, the removal of spruce roots in a Picea abies plantation in Russia, also had only little impact on decomposition of Populus tremula, Quercus robur, or Picea abies litter (Chigineva et al 2009).…”

Section: Mass Loss N Losssupporting

confidence: 79%

Litter composition rather than plant presence affects decomposition of tropical litter mixtures

et al. 2011

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Litter decomposition is strongly controlled by litter quality, but the composition of litter mixtures and potential interactions with live plants through root activity may also influence decomposers. In a greenhouse experiment in French Guiana we studied the combined effects of the presence of tropical tree seedlings and of distinct litter composition on mass and nitrogen (N) loss from decomposing litter and on microbial biomass. Different litter mixtures decomposed for 435 days in pots filled with sand and containing an individual seedling from one of four different tree species. We found both additive and negative non-additive effects (NAE) of litter mixing on mass loss, whereas N loss showed negative and positive NAE of litter mixing. If litter from the two tree species, Platonia insignis and Goupia glabra were present, litter mixtures showed more positive and more negative NAE on N loss, respectively. Overall, decomposition, and in particular non-additive effects, were only weakly affected by the presence of tree seedlings. Litter mass loss weakly yet significantly decreased with increasing fine root biomass in presence of Goupia seedlings, but not in the presence of seedlings of any other tree species. Our results showed strong litter composition effects and also clear, mostly negative, non-additive effects on mass loss and N loss. Species identity of tree seedlings can modify litter decomposition, but these live plant effects remain quantitatively inferior to litter composition effects.

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Section: Mass Loss N Losssupporting

confidence: 79%

Litter composition rather than plant presence affects decomposition of tropical litter mixtures

et al. 2011

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“…With increased acidity due to accelerated nitrification in the fertilized plots, soil microbial activity may be reduced (Aerts and de Caluwe 1999). Recent studies in forest and grassland ecosystems show clearly that N addition may stimulate or inhibit microbial activities and change microbial community structure depending on the rate of application and differences in litter quality (Waldrop et al 2004a, b;Craine et al 2007;Keeler et al 2009;Trinder et al 2009). Our results show that both microbial biomass (C) and microbial respiration rates were reduced by N fertilization.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Litter decomposition and nutrient release as affected by soil nitrogen availability and litter quality in a semiarid grassland ecosystem

et al. 2009

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Nitrogen availability is critically important to litter decomposition, especially in arid and semiarid areas where N is limiting. We studied the relative contributions of litter quality and soil N to litter decomposition of two dominant grassland species, Stipa krylovii and Artemisia frigida, in a semiarid typical steppe ecosystem in Inner Mongolia, China. The study had four different rates of N addition (0, 8, 32, and 64 g N m(-2) year(-1)), and litter samples were decomposed under varying site conditions and by litter types. Litter-mixing effects of the two species were also examined. We found that N addition increased litter N concentration and thus enhanced litter decomposition by improving substrate quality. This increase, however, was offset by the negative effect of increased soil N, resulting in a diminished effect of increased soil N availability on in situ litter decomposition. The positive effects of improved litter quality slightly out-performed the negative effects of increased soil N. Our further analysis revealed that the negative effect of increasing soil N on litter decomposition could be partially explained by reduced soil microbial biomass and activity. Decomposition was significantly faster for litters of a two-species mixture than litters of the single species, but the rate of litter decomposition did not differ much between the two species, suggesting that compositional balance, rather than changes in the dominance between Stipa and Artemisia, is more critical for litter decomposition, hence nutrient cycling in this ecosystem. This semiarid steppe ecosystem may become more conservative in nutrient use with switching of dominance from Artemisia to Stipa with increasing soil N, because Stipa has a slower decomposition rate and a higher nutrient retention rate than Artemisia.

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“…without factor and control crossings) have been used to separate between litter and microenvironment effects on decomposition (e.g. Belyea, 1996;Trinder et al, 2009), to our knowledge there has not been any attempt to cross-link specific litter production with litter decomposition conditions to study the litter decay in a fullfactorial design that includes two phases set under treatment or true control conditions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Litter- and ecosystem-driven decomposition under elevated CO2 and enhanced N deposition in a Sphagnum peatland

Siegenthaler

Buttler

Bragazza

et al. 2010

Soil Biology and Biochemistry

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Keywords:Litter quality and decomposition Global change Peatlands Sphagnum fallax Eriophorum vaginatum Polytrichum strictum Elevated CO 2 Enhanced N deposition Carbon based secondary compounds Microbial activity a b s t r a c t Peatlands represent massive global C pools and sinks. Carbon accumulation depends on the ratio between net primary production and decomposition, both of which can change under projected increases of atmospheric CO 2 and N deposition. The decomposition of litter is influenced by 1) the quality of the litter, and 2) the microenvironmental conditions in which the litter decomposes. This study aims at experimentally testing the effects of these two drivers in the context of global change. We studied the in situ litter decomposition from three common peatland species (Eriophorum vaginatum, Polytrichum strictum and Sphagnum fallax) collected after one year of litter production under pre-treatment conditions (elevated CO 2 : 560 ppm or enhanced N: 3 g m À2 y À1 NH 4 NO 3 ) and decomposed the following year under treatment conditions (same as pre-treatment). By considering the cross-effects between pre-treatments and treatments, we distinguished between the effects on mass loss of 1) the pre-treatment-induced litter quality and 2) the treatment conditions under which the litters were decomposing. The combination between CO 2 pre-treatment and CO 2 treatment reduced Polytrichum decomposition by À24% and this can be explained by litter quality-driven decomposition changes brought by the pre-treatment. CO 2 pre-treatment reduced Eriophorum litter quality, although this was not sufficient to predict decomposition. The N addition pretreatment reduced the decomposition of Eriophorum, due to enhanced lignin and soluble phenols concentrations in the initial litter, and reduced litter-driven losses of starch and enhanced litter-driven losses of soluble phenols. While decomposition indices based on initial litter quality provide a broad explanation of quantitative and qualitative decomposition, they can only be taken as first approximations. Indeed, the microbial ATP activity, the litter N loss and resulting litter quality, were strongly altered irrespective of the compounds' initial concentration and by means of processes that occurred independently of the initial litter-qualitative changes. The experimental design was valuable to assess litter-and ecosystemdriven decomposition pathways simultaneously or independently. The ability to separate these two drivers makes it possible to attest the presence of litter-qualitative changes even without any litter biochemical determinations, and shows the screening potential of this approach for future experiments dealing with multiple plant species.

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Litter type, but not plant cover, regulates initial litter decomposition and fungal community structure in a recolonising cutover peatland

Cited by 32 publications

References 32 publications

Litter composition rather than plant presence affects decomposition of tropical litter mixtures

Litter composition rather than plant presence affects decomposition of tropical litter mixtures

Litter decomposition and nutrient release as affected by soil nitrogen availability and litter quality in a semiarid grassland ecosystem

Litter- and ecosystem-driven decomposition under elevated CO2 and enhanced N deposition in a Sphagnum peatland

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