Litter-trapping plants: filter-feeders of the plant kingdom

Zona, Scott; Christenhusz, Maarten J. M.

doi:10.1111/boj.12346

Cited by 32 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 99 publications

(75 reference statements)

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“…Fourth, some plants may influence the biogeochemical cycle by litter trapping. The leaf and stem traits of these plants increase the volume of litterfall that is trapped in the plant's canopy, and this trapped litter becomes a privatized slow compost pile that releases nutrients over time [25]. As with stemflow, we are not aware of any cycad taxa that have been studied for litter-trapping abilities.…”

Section: Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two Cycad Species Affect the Carbon, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus Content of Soils

Marler

Calonje

2020

Horticulturae

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The influences of Cycas micronesica and Zamia integrifolia plants on soil chemistry were determined in Tinian and Florida in order to more fully understand how cycad plants affect the environments in which they grow. The introduction of C. micronesica plants into a karst habitat generated decreases in soil phosphorus after five years and increases in soil nitrogen after six years. The carbon:nitrogen:phosphorus stoichiometry beneath the cycad plants significantly diverged from those of the adjacent native forests with Pisonia grandis, Psychotria mariana, Aglaia mariannensis, Cynometra ramiflora, and Ficus sp. cover after five years. Mineralization traits were determined beneath nine-year-old C. micronesica plants and revealed the plants greatly increased net nitrification and decreased net ammonification when compared to the native forest soils with Bursera simaruba, Pinus elliottii, and Quercus virginiana cover. These flux changes increased the total available nitrogen and percent available nitrogen in the soils beneath the cycad plants. The substrates of two soil series exhibited increased carbon and nitrogen concentrations beneath Z. integrifolia plants when compared with soils away from the cycad plants. No other mineral or metal was influenced by proximity to the Z. integrifolia plants. These gymnosperms exhibit distinct interactions with their subtending soils, and some of these traits improve ecosystems by increasing recalcitrant carbon and nitrogen and increasing spatial heterogeneity of soil chemistry.

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Section: Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two Cycad Species Affect the Carbon, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus Content of Soils

Marler

Calonje

2020

Horticulturae

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“…Furthermore, in many temperate, subtropical and tropical forests dead epiphytes, decaying bark, and tree litter are trapped in stable locations in the canopy where they stay long enough to rot and form arboreal soil (Delamare-Deboutteville 1948;Nadkarni 1984;Hofstede et al 2001;Fonte and Schowalter 2004;Enloe et al 2006;Díaz et al 2010). This phenomenon is particularly important in forests where the atmospheric humidity is high and epiphytes and littertrapping plants (sensu Zona and Christenhusz 2015) are abundant, e.g. tropical montane forests, tropical rain forests and temperate rain forests (Sugden and Robins 1979;Nadkarni 1984;Á lvarez-Sánchez and Guevara 1999;Hofstede et al 2001;Díaz et al 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microsites and early litter decomposition patterns in the soil and forest canopy at regional scale

2020

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Plant litter decomposition is a key ecological process that is mostly studied at the forest floor. However, decomposition generally starts in the canopy. In this study, we evaluated the effect of litter composition and climate on the initial phase of decomposition in the soil and two contrasting types of canopy microsites along an elevational gradient (0–2200 m a.s.l.). To this end, we incubated standard material composed by green (fast decomposing) and rooibos (slow decomposing) tea bags for three months. Tea bags were placed in soil (buried at 5 cm) and in the canopy at ca. 5 m above the ground in “micro-wetlands” (tank bromeliads) and dry crown microsites (branches). Along the elevational gradient, green tea decomposed faster than rooibos tea in all microsites and forests. Mass loss for both tea types was lowest on branches at all sites, except for green tea in a wet forest where decomposition did not significantly differ among microsites. In wet forests, decomposition did not differ between bromeliads and soil, while in a dry forest, decomposition was faster in bromeliads. We found that the effects of climatic variables [monthly average temperature (TEMP) and total precipitation (PREC) for the incubation months] on decomposition differed between microsites. Along the elevational gradient, the mass loss in soil was positively correlated with TEMP but not with PREC, whereas on branches, mass loss was negatively correlated with TEMP and positively correlated with PREC. Unlike on branches, mass loss in bromeliads slightly decreased with PREC and increased with TEMP. Our study shows that microsite conditions interact with climate (TEMP and PREC) leading to differences in the general decomposition patterns in the forest canopy.

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“…(as in Q. antonensis) architecture, consisting of rosettes or crowns of leaves borne on a single stem or at the ends of sparse branches (Zona & Christenhusz 2015). Schopfbaum trees and shrubs account for more than 40 genera of litter trappers, and have evolved independently multiple times within a few species-rich genera (e.g.,…”

Section: A B Rief Surve Y Of Lit Ter Tr Appingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The production of adventitious roots inside the accumulated litter -a trait more convincingly indicative of an adaptive nutrient-uptake function -is much less frequently found than litter trapping itself (Zona & Christenhusz, 2015). An example of an additional woody terrestrial, litter-trapping species with adventitious roots is Q. dressleri, named by Cornejo and Iltis (2010) they noted that in the region -owing to their abundance -terrestrial litter trappers "obviously play a significant ecological role."…”

Section: Psychotria; Lachenaud and Jongkind 2013)mentioning

confidence: 99%