Climatic controls on leaf litter decomposition across European forests and grasslands revealed by reciprocal litter transplantation experiments
Carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling under future climate change is associated with large uncertainties in litter decomposition and the turnover of soil C and N. In addition, future conditions (especially altered precipitation regimes and warming) are expected to result in changes in vegetation compo...
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doaj-4c4d2ab948f04bae8d7e080f730b93b42020-11-24T22:40:07ZengCopernicus PublicationsBiogeosciences1726-41701726-41892016-03-011351621163310.5194/bg-13-1621-2016Climatic controls on leaf litter decomposition across European forests and grasslands revealed by reciprocal litter transplantation experimentsM. Portillo-Estrada0M. Pihlatie1J. F. J. Korhonen2J. Levula3A. K. F. Frumau4A. Ibrom5J. J. Lembrechts6L. Morillas7L. Horváth8S. K. Jones9Ü. Niinemets10Centre of Excellence PLECO (Plant and Vegetation Ecology), Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, BelgiumDepartment of Physics, Division of Atmospheric Sciences, 00014 University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FinlandDepartment of Physics, Division of Atmospheric Sciences, 00014 University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FinlandDepartment of Physics, Division of Atmospheric Sciences, 00014 University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FinlandECN, Environmental Assessment group, P.O. Box 1, 1755 ZG, Petten, the NetherlandsTechnical University Denmark, Department of Environmental Engineering, Centre for Ecosystem & Environmental Sustainability, Frederiksborgvej 399, Risø-Campus, 4000 Roskilde, DenmarkCentre of Excellence PLECO (Plant and Vegetation Ecology), Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, BelgiumDepartment of Sciences for Nature and Environmental Resources, University of Sassari, Via Enrico de Nicola, no. 9, 07100, Sassari, ItalyHungarian Meteorological Service, P.O. Box 39, 1675 Budapest, HungaryScotland Rural College, King's Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UKDepartment of Plant Physiology, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 1, Tartu 51014, EstoniaCarbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling under future climate change is associated with large uncertainties in litter decomposition and the turnover of soil C and N. In addition, future conditions (especially altered precipitation regimes and warming) are expected to result in changes in vegetation composition, and accordingly in litter species and chemical composition, but it is unclear how such changes could potentially alter litter decomposition. Litter transplantation experiments were carried out across six European sites (four forests and two grasslands) spanning a large geographical and climatic gradient (5.6–11.4 °C in annual temperature 511–878 mm in precipitation) to gain insight into the climatic controls on litter decomposition as well as the effect of litter origin and species. <br><br> The decomposition <i>k</i> rates were overall higher in warmer and wetter sites than in colder and drier sites, and positively correlated with the litter total specific leaf area. Also, litter N content increased as less litter mass remained and decay went further. <br><br> Surprisingly, this study demonstrates that climatic controls on litter decomposition are quantitatively more important than species or site of origin. Cumulative climatic variables, precipitation, soil water content and air temperature (ignoring days with air temperatures below zero degrees Celsius), were appropriate to predict the litter remaining mass during decomposition (<i>M</i><sub>r</sub>). <i>M</i><sub>r</sub> and cumulative air temperature were found to be the best predictors for litter carbon and nitrogen remaining during the decomposition. Using mean annual air temperature, precipitation, soil water content and litter total specific leaf area as parameters we were able to predict the annual decomposition rate (<i>k</i>) accurately.http://www.biogeosciences.net/13/1621/2016/bg-13-1621-2016.pdf |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
M. Portillo-Estrada M. Pihlatie J. F. J. Korhonen J. Levula A. K. F. Frumau A. Ibrom J. J. Lembrechts L. Morillas L. Horváth S. K. Jones Ü. Niinemets |
spellingShingle |
M. Portillo-Estrada M. Pihlatie J. F. J. Korhonen J. Levula A. K. F. Frumau A. Ibrom J. J. Lembrechts L. Morillas L. Horváth S. K. Jones Ü. Niinemets Climatic controls on leaf litter decomposition across European forests and grasslands revealed by reciprocal litter transplantation experiments Biogeosciences |
author_facet |
M. Portillo-Estrada M. Pihlatie J. F. J. Korhonen J. Levula A. K. F. Frumau A. Ibrom J. J. Lembrechts L. Morillas L. Horváth S. K. Jones Ü. Niinemets |
author_sort |
M. Portillo-Estrada |
title |
Climatic controls on leaf litter decomposition across European forests and grasslands revealed by reciprocal litter transplantation experiments |
title_short |
Climatic controls on leaf litter decomposition across European forests and grasslands revealed by reciprocal litter transplantation experiments |
title_full |
Climatic controls on leaf litter decomposition across European forests and grasslands revealed by reciprocal litter transplantation experiments |
title_fullStr |
Climatic controls on leaf litter decomposition across European forests and grasslands revealed by reciprocal litter transplantation experiments |
title_full_unstemmed |
Climatic controls on leaf litter decomposition across European forests and grasslands revealed by reciprocal litter transplantation experiments |
title_sort |
climatic controls on leaf litter decomposition across european forests and grasslands revealed by reciprocal litter transplantation experiments |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
series |
Biogeosciences |
issn |
1726-4170 1726-4189 |
publishDate |
2016-03-01 |
description |
Carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling under future climate change is
associated with large uncertainties in litter decomposition and the turnover
of soil C and N. In addition, future conditions (especially altered
precipitation regimes and warming) are expected to result in changes in
vegetation composition, and accordingly in litter species and chemical
composition, but it is unclear how such changes could potentially alter
litter decomposition. Litter transplantation experiments were carried out
across six European sites (four forests and two grasslands) spanning a large
geographical and climatic gradient (5.6–11.4 °C in annual
temperature 511–878 mm in precipitation) to gain insight into the
climatic controls on litter decomposition as well as the effect of litter
origin and species.
<br><br>
The decomposition <i>k</i> rates were overall higher in warmer and wetter sites
than in colder and drier sites, and positively correlated with the litter
total specific leaf area. Also, litter N content increased as less litter
mass remained and decay went further.
<br><br>
Surprisingly, this study demonstrates that climatic controls on litter
decomposition are quantitatively more important than species or site of
origin. Cumulative climatic variables, precipitation, soil water content and
air temperature (ignoring days with air temperatures below zero degrees
Celsius), were appropriate to predict the litter remaining mass during
decomposition (<i>M</i><sub>r</sub>). <i>M</i><sub>r</sub> and cumulative air temperature were found to
be the best predictors for litter carbon and nitrogen remaining during the
decomposition. Using mean annual air temperature, precipitation, soil water
content and litter total specific leaf area as parameters we were able to
predict the annual decomposition rate (<i>k</i>) accurately. |
url |
http://www.biogeosciences.net/13/1621/2016/bg-13-1621-2016.pdf |
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