Mixing litter from deciduous and evergreen trees enhances decomposition in a subtropical karst forest in southwestern China

Liu, Changcheng; Li, Hui; Guo, Ke; Zhao, Haiwei; Qiao, Xiaojuan; Wang, Shijie; Zhang, Lin; Cai, Xiaobin

doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2016.07.004

Cited by 71 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…In general, the needle contains more lignin than broadleaf. Studies also suggest that deciduous leaf decomposability is higher than that of the evergreen leaf (Cornwell et al, 2008;Liu et al, 2016). This data indicates that low-quality litter species decomposition is more sensitive to litter mixing treatment, which is in agreement with previously discussed experimental results (Fig.…”

Section: The Non-additive Effect Across All Studiessupporting

confidence: 92%

Synergistic effect: a common theme in mixed-species litter decomposition

Liu

Song

et al. 2019

Preprint

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20Litter decomposition plays a key role in ecosystem nutrients cycling, yet, to date 21 science is lacking a comprehensive understanding of the non-additive effect in 22 mixing litter decomposition. 23In order to fill that gap, we compiled 69 individual studies for the purpose of 24 performing two sub-meta-analyses on the non-additive effect. 25Our results show that a significantly synergistic effect occurs at global scale with 26 the average increase by 2-4% in litter mixture decomposition; In particular, 27 low-quality litter in mixture shows a significantly synergistic effect, while no 28 significant change is observed with high-quality species. Additionally, the 29 synergistic effect turns into the antagonistic effect when soil fauna is absent or 30 litter decomposition enters into humus-near stage. In contrast to temperate and 31 tropical areas, studies in frigid area also show a significantly antagonistic effect. 32Our meta-analysis provides a systematic evaluation of the non-additive effect in 33 decomposition mixed litters, which is critical for understanding and improving 34 the carbon forecasts and nutrient dynamics. 35 Keywords 36Non-additive effect, litter mixture, litter quality, synergistic effect, litter 37 decomposition, meta-analysis 38 7 were obtained from 16 papers (Table S1). These studies were primarily conducted in 132 East Asia, Western Europe, and North America (Fig. S3). 133For each study, we also noted the factors relevant to the mixing effects including 134 the site location, ecosystem type, species (and its nutrient contents if provided), decay 135 period, mesh size, response variables, and other background information (e.g. mean 136 annual temperatures (MAT), mean annual precipitation (MAP), etc.). 137 Statistical analysis 138The natural log-transformed response ratio (R), defined as the effect size (Hedges et 139 al., 1999), was used as an index to measure the effect level of litter mixture on 140 decomposition rate: 141 372 Barbe, L, Mony C, Jung V, Santonja M, Bartish I, Prinzing A. 2018. Functionally or 373 phylogenetically distinct neighbours turn antagonism among decomposing litter species into 374 synergy.

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Section: The Non-additive Effect Across All Studiessupporting

confidence: 92%

Synergistic effect: a common theme in mixed-species litter decomposition

Liu

Song

et al. 2019

Preprint

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“…Previous studies also suggested that the decomposition time or duration strongly influenced the effects of biodiversity on biogeochemical cycling [12,15,47]. In our study, the incidence of nonadditive effects on both lignin and cellulose loss decreased when we compared the decomposition phase to decomposition over time (Figure 4e,f and Figure 5).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

“…The superior chemical and physical diversities disappear as decomposition proceeds due to loss of labile components and destruction of the litter shape during early rapid decomposition [9]. From this point, nonadditive interactions may occur for the pine + cypress combination for both lignin and cellulose loss and the pine + oak and pine + cypress + oak combinations for lignin degradation during the subsequent stage of decomposition [15,29]. In addition, although the strategy of placing litter bags in the plastic pots could control the influence of species interactions on mixing effects well, limitation on the exchange of soil moisture may occur, which may influence the decomposition process [9].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Accordingly, the physical abrasion or breakdown of litter is complex and involves diverse processes [13]. Scarce materials may be transferred from nutrient-rich litter to nutrient-poor litter by decomposers (i.e., via the fungal mycelial process) [14][15][16], thereby contributing to litter decomposition. It is therefore important to select species with readily decomposable litter to promote the decomposition of more recalcitrant species in litter mixtures [17,18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of Predominant Tree Species Mixing on Lignin and Cellulose Degradation during Leaf Litter Decomposition in the Three Gorges Reservoir, China

Pei

et al. 2019

Forests

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The aim of this study was to investigate the potential mixing effects on degradation of lignin and cellulose in mixed leaf litter from Pinus massoniana Lamb., Cupressus funebris Endl., and/or Quercus variabilis Bl., and elucidate the interactions with abiotic factors. The litter bag method was used in the field experiment, and the three predominant species in the Three Gorges Reservoir region were treated as single-, pair-, and tri-species combinations with equal proportions of litter mass. Lignin and cellulose losses in the litter treatments were measured, and the mixing effects were evaluated based on the sampling phase and decomposition period. At the end of the one-year decomposition period, mixing species increased lignin loss by 3.3% for the cypress + oak combination and cellulose loss by 3.9%, 1.8%, and 0.8% for the pine + oak, cypress + oak, and pine + cypress + oak combinations, respectively. The pine + oak and cypress + oak combinations exhibited greater lignin and cellulose loss than the tri-species mixture. Accelerated lignin degradation also apparently occurred in the pine + cypress combination as decomposition proceeded. Generalized linear models suggested that the investigated environmental factors (in terms of average temperature and cumulative precipitation) and changing litter quality (lignin, cellulose, and lignin/cellulose) had significant effects on nonadditive lignin loss, whereas only the changing litter quality factors significantly affected nonadditive cellulose loss. In summary, mixing two or three of the studied species alters cycling of recalcitrant substrates in plantations, and mixed planting with Quercus appears to strengthen both the lignin and cellulose degradation processes.

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“…The possible reason for this difference might be that these species contain some particular substances that are less palatable to decomposers. Evergreen tree species generally show a decomposition rate that is lower than that of deciduous tree species, resulting from their low palatability due to high C/N ratio or lignin contents (Decker & Boerner, ; Liu et al, ). Although D. kaki and C. camphora litters have similar initial carbon (45.67 ± 0.25 and 46.86 ± 0.26 g/g, respectively) and nitrogen concentrations (1.17 ± 0.04 and 1.03 ± 0.03 g/g, respectively) and similar nitrogen dynamics, their carbon dynamics were different in the first stage of this study (Figure ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Riparian leaf litter decomposition on pond bottom after a retention on floating vegetation

Zhang

Wei-jun

Junpeng

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

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Allochthonous (e.g., riparian) plant litter is among the organic matter resources that are important for wetland ecosystems. A compact canopy of free‐floating vegetation on the water surface may allow for riparian litter to remain on it for a period of time before sinking to the bottom. Thus, we hypothesized that canopy of free‐floating vegetation may slow decomposition processes in wetlands. To test the hypothesis that the retention of riparian leaf litter on the free‐floating vegetation in wetlands affects their subsequent decomposition on the bottom of wetlands, a 50‐day in situ decomposition experiment was performed in a wetland pond in subtropical China, in which litter bags of single species with fine (0.5 mm) or coarse (2.0 mm) mesh sizes were placed on free‐floating vegetation (dominated by Eichhornia crassipes, Lemna minor, and Salvinia molesta) for 25 days and then moved to the pond bottom for another 25 days or remained on the pond bottom for 50 days. The leaf litter was collected from three riparian species, that is, Cinnamomum camphora, Diospyros kaki, and Phyllostachys propinqua. The retention of riparian leaf litter on free‐floating vegetation had significant negative effect on the carbon loss, marginal negative effects on the mass loss, and no effect on the nitrogen loss from leaf litter, partially supporting the hypothesis. Similarly, the mass and carbon losses from leaf litter decomposing on the pond bottom for the first 25 days of the experiment were greater than those from the litter decomposing on free‐floating vegetation. Our results highlight that in wetlands, free‐floating vegetation could play a vital role in litter decomposition, which is linked to the regulation of nutrient cycling in ecosystems.

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Mixing litter from deciduous and evergreen trees enhances decomposition in a subtropical karst forest in southwestern China

Cited by 71 publications

References 32 publications

Synergistic effect: a common theme in mixed-species litter decomposition

Synergistic effect: a common theme in mixed-species litter decomposition

Effects of Predominant Tree Species Mixing on Lignin and Cellulose Degradation during Leaf Litter Decomposition in the Three Gorges Reservoir, China

Riparian leaf litter decomposition on pond bottom after a retention on floating vegetation

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