scholarly journals Tree litter functional diversity and nitrogen concentration enhance litter decomposition via changes in earthworm communities

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (13) ◽  
pp. 6752-6768
Author(s):  
Guillaume Patoine ◽  
Helge Bruelheide ◽  
Josephine Haase ◽  
Charles Nock ◽  
Niklas Ohlmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Litter Decomposition ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Nitrogen Concentration ◽  
Tree Litter

scholarly journals Validating tree litter decomposition in the Yasso07 carbon model

2014 ◽  
Vol 291 ◽  
pp. 58-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Didion ◽  
B. Frey ◽  
N. Rogiers ◽  
E. Thürig
Keyword(s):  
Litter Decomposition ◽  
Tree Litter

Species Richness Interacts with Drought to Affect Litter Decomposition via its Effect on Litter Nitrogen Concentration

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiang Wang ◽  
Yuan Ge ◽  
J. Hans C. Cornelissen ◽  
Xiaoyan Wang ◽  
Song Gao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Global Change ◽  
Climatic Change ◽  
Litter Decomposition ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Nitrogen Concentration ◽  
Plant Invasions ◽  
Exotic Plant ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Litter Nitrogen

Abstract Biodiversity loss, exotic plant invasions and climatic change are currently the three major challenges to our globe and can each affect various ecological processes, including litter composition. To gain a better understanding of global change impacts on ecological processes, these three global change components need to be considered simultaneously. Here we assembled experimental plant communities with species richness levels (1, 2, 4, 8 or 16) and subjected them to drought (no, moderate or intensive drought) and invasion (invasion by the exotic annual plant Symphyotrichum subulatum or not). We collected litter of the native plant communities and let it decompose for nine months within the communities. Drought decreased litter decomposition, while the exotic plant invasion had no impact. Increasing species richness decreased litter decomposition under the mesic condition (no drought), but had little impact under moderate and intensive drought. A structural equation model showed that drought and species richness affected litter decomposition mainly via influencing litter nitrogen concentration, but not via altering the quantity and diversity of soil meso-fauna or soil physio-chemical properties. The negative impact of species diversity on litter decomposition under the mesic condition was mainly ascribed to a sampling effect, i.e. via particularly low litter nitrogen concentrations in the two dominant species. Our results indicate that species richness can interact with drought to affect litter decomposition via effect on litter nitrogen. We conclude that nitrogen-dependent litter decomposition should be a mechanism to predict integrated effects of plant diversity loss, exotic plant invasions and climatic change on litter decomposition.

scholarly journals Do Silvi-Medicinal Plantations Affect Tree Litter Decomposition and Nutrient Mineralization?

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (18) ◽  
pp. 5138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoxi Zhang ◽  
Hangyu Lei ◽  
Yujie Chong ◽  
Jiawei Hu ◽  
Wenrong Che ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Litter Decomposition ◽  
Plant Secondary Metabolites ◽  
Cellulase Activity ◽  
Nutrient Release ◽  
Medicinal Herbs ◽  
Inhibitory Effects ◽  
Nutrient Mineralization ◽  
Specific Effects ◽  
P Release ◽  
Tree Litter

In a silvi-medicinal system, the plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) released from medicinal herbs could affect tree litter decomposition and nutrient release. However, the specific effects of PSMs on arboreous litter decomposition are still not well understood. In this study, the extracts of nine types of medicinal herbs were used to treat Pinus armandii Franch. and Larix gmelinii (Rupr.) Kuzen. litter during a simulated half-year decomposition. The effects of the extracts on the decomposition and the N and P release of the conifer litter were investigated. The results indicated that most of the medicinal herb extracts significantly inhibited the late decomposition of P. armandii litter, whereas only two of them accelerated the entire decomposition process. Only a few significantly affected the decomposition of the L. gmelinii litter. Four of the nine types of extract significantly inhibited the N and P release of the P. armandii litter, while 3/9 and 6/9 inhibited the N and P release of the L. gmelinii litter, respectively. The accelerating effects of the extracts on the cellulase activity and the inhibitory effects on the polyphenol oxidase activity might be responsible for the early acceleration and late inhibition of litter decomposition, while the effects of the extracts on the activities of protease and phosphatase might not be the main reason for the inhibitory or accelerating effects on the N and P release. In general, the inhibitory effects of medicinal herbs on the nutrient cycling of ecosystems should be taken into consideration when building silvi-medicinal systems, especially in P. armandii forests.

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