DECOTAB: a multipurpose standard substrate to assess effects of litter quality on microbial decomposition and invertebrate consumption

Kampfraath, Andries A.; Hunting, Ellard R.; Mulder, Christian; Breure, A.M.; Gessner, Mark O.; Kraak, Michiel H.S.; Admiraal, Wim

doi:10.1899/12-075.1

Cited by 41 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…, that embed a homogenized and standardized mixture of particulate OM (POM) as a standardize substrate to determine detritivore consumption rate. DECOTABs were prepared with cellulose (25% agar and 75% cellulose) following the procedures as described by Kampfraath et al (2012), and DECOTAB mass loss was determined by subtracting the mass of dried (3 days at 60°C) DECOTABs after the experimental period from dried freshly prepared DECOTABs (mean±1 SD = 81.3±3.1 mg, n = 25, accuracy 0.001 mg). Each microcosm contained 150 g sand and 300 ml Elendt M4 medium consisting of K 2 HPO 4 (1.27 mM); KH 2 PO 4 (1.27 mM); NaHCO 3 (1.27 mM); (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 (1.27 mM); NaCl (1.27 mM); Hepes (1.27 mM), with added yeast extract (0.5 gl −1 ); Tryptone (0.5 gl −1 ) 100X minerals (1%); 100X CaCl 2 (1%) and 40% sodium lactate (0.5%).…”

Section: Experiments 1: Effects Of Sunlight On Om Degradation and Om-amentioning

confidence: 99%

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Significance of sunlight for organic matter degradation in aquatic systems

Hunting

Jong

Schrama

2019

Environ. Res. Commun.

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Degradation of organic matter (OM) is generally considered to be primarily governed by biotic factors in aquatic environments. However, a number of abiotic processes also play key roles in mediating OM-degradation. Sunlight can act as a principal abiotic driver of the degradation of terrestrial organic matter, but its importance for freshwater ecosystems and possible interactions with biotic drivers remains poorly understood. We carried out two microcosm experiments which focused on the role of sunlight on microbial and invertebrate-mediated OM degradation using two species of plant leaves and the aquatic invertebrate Asellus aquaticus. Results indicated that sunlight was the primary driver of leaf mass loss during the early stages of decomposition, whereas microbial communities had a negligible effect. Sunlight was observed to strongly affect invertebrate behavior as invertebrates avoided direct illumination. This alteration of behavior resulted in a reduction in the consumption of a leaf surrogate (DECOTAB) by A. aquaticus. Together, these results indicate that sunlight has the potential to strongly influence structural and functional attributes of shallow freshwater systems, and hence serve as an appraisal to consider sunlight as a significant direct and indirect physical driver governing OM degradation in shallow aquatic systems.

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Section: Experiments 1: Effects Of Sunlight On Om Degradation and Om-amentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Prior to the experiment, individual Asellus aquaticus were collected from a pond near Leiden, Alphen aan den Rijn (N52.1276577°, E4.6688508°). To assess the single and combined effects on decomposition, we used Decomposition and COnsumption TABlets, DECOTABs(Kampfraath et al 2012, Van der Lee et al 2019 www.DECOTAB.org)…”

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confidence: 99%

Significance of sunlight for organic matter degradation in aquatic systems

Hunting

Jong

Schrama

2019

Environ. Res. Commun.

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“…DECOTABs were used as a surrogate OM to allow manipulation of AgNP concentrations (Kampfraath et al 2012; Van der Lee 2018). In short, DECOTABs were prepared from 60 g/L powdered organic hay serving as particulate OM (POM) and 20 g/L purified agar (Sigma-Aldrich).…”

Section: Study Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbially-mediated indirect effects of silver nanoparticles on aquatic invertebrates

et al. 2018

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Complex natural systems are affected by multiple anthropogenic stressors, and therefore indirect effects within food webs are increasingly investigated. In this context, dead organic matter (OM) or detritus provides a food source sustaining detrital food webs that recycle the retained energy through microbial decomposition and invertebrate consumption. In aquatic environments, poorly water-soluble contaminants, including nanoparticles (NPs), quickly adsorb onto OM potentially modifying OM-associated microbial communities. Since invertebrates often depend on microbial conditioning to enhance OM quality, adverse effects on OM-associated microbial communities could potentially affect invertebrate performances. Therefore, this study assessed the effect of environmentally relevant concentrations of the model emerging contaminant, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), on OM-associated microorganisms and subsequent indirect effects on growth of the invertebrate Asellus aquaticus. At low concentrations (0.8 ug/L), AgNPs inhibited activity and altered metabolic diversity of the OM-associated microbial community. This was observed to coincide with a negative effect on the growth of A. aquaticus due to antimicrobial properties, as a decreased growth was observed when offered AgNP-contaminated OM. When A. aquaticus were offered sterile OM in the absence of AgNPs, invertebrate growth was observed to be strongly retarded, illustrating the importance of microorganisms in the diet of this aquatic invertebrate. This outcome thus hints that environmentally relevant concentrations of AgNPs can indirectly affect the growth of aquatic invertebrates by affecting OM-associated microbial communities, and hence that microorganisms are an essential link in understanding bottom-up directed effects of chemical stressors in food webs.

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“…Two essential functions are primary production and decomposition, which provide the two key energy inputs into any food web, thus ultimately driving the whole system's trophic dynamics, stability, and productivity. 2008), and methods for standardizing this measure across ecosystems have been developed (e.g., Kampfraath et al, 2012), crucially allowing comparisons between studies, but these methods have yet to be adopted into biomonitoring schemes. These vital ecosystem processes, however, are not routinely measured in current biomonitoring techniques.…”

Section: State Of the Art In The Science Of Biomonitoring: From Specimentioning

confidence: 99%