Abstract
Aims
We examined the importance of litter quality and microclimate on early-stage litter mass loss, analysed the importance of interactions among environmental factors in determining key decomposition parameters and compared the variation in decomposition rates in vegetation types and sites with similar climate.
Methods
Following the Tea-Bag Index approach, 464 tea-bags were incubated in the soil in 79 sites, distributed across Italy, which included six vegetation types and a broad range of microclimatic conditions.
Results
Litter type exerted a stronger control on mass loss compared to climatic factors. The effects of soil moisture were not the same for high and lower quality litter. In addition, the effects of temperature on the decomposition rate depended on soil moisture. The stabilization factor was strongly temperature-dependent, but the influence of temperature differed among vegetation types: those dominated by small-size plants showed a strong decrease in the potential amount of plant material entering into the soil stock under warmer temperatures. The lowest variation in decomposition rate was found in sites characterised by low temperatures, and, among the vegetation types, in alpine snowbeds.
Conclusions
The role of litter quality and of the interactions among environmental conditions can potentially determine significant shifts in the expected patterns of ecosystem carbon fluxes.
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Abbreviations
- GWC:
-
Gravimetric water content
- LMM:
-
Linear mixed-effect model
- MAP:
-
Mean annual cumulative precipitation
- MAT:
-
Mean annual air temperature
- SOC:
-
Soil Organic Carbon
- TBI:
-
Tea-Bag Index
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Acknowledgements
We thank T’ai Gladys Whittingham Forte for proof reading, and the Handling Editor and three anonymous reviewers for their comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. Fieldwork of DG was financially supported by Ente Parco Nazionale del Pollino as part of the research program “Un laboratorio di campo permanente nel Parco Nazionale del Pollino”. SC was supported by Nature State Reserve “Montagna di Torricchio” (LTER_EU_IT_033) and by Sentina Nature Reserve.
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Responsible Editor: Feike A. Dijkstra.
Alessandro Petraglia and Cecilia Cacciatori equally contributed to this work and should be considered co-first authors
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Petraglia, A., Cacciatori, C., Chelli, S. et al. Litter decomposition: effects of temperature driven by soil moisture and vegetation type. Plant Soil 435, 187–200 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-018-3889-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-018-3889-x