The effects of leaf litter evenness on decomposition depend on which plant functional group is dominant

Li, Daijiang; Shaolin, Peng; Chen, Baoming

doi:10.1007/s11104-012-1337-x

Cited by 25 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Changes in species relative abundance of leaf litter mixtures can affect mixture decomposition [55], [56]. In the present study, the non-additive effects on litter mass loss were highest under M 3 (exotic litter dominant).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 45%

Non-Additive Effects on Decomposition from Mixing Litter of the Invasive Mikania micrantha H.B.K. with Native Plants

et al. 2013

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A common hypothesis to explain the effect of litter mixing is based on the difference in litter N content between mixed species. Although many studies have shown that litter of invasive non-native plants typically has higher N content than that of native plants in the communities they invade, there has been surprisingly little study of mixing effects during plant invasions. We address this question in south China where Mikania micrantha H.B.K., a non-native vine, with high litter N content, has invaded many forested ecosystems. We were specifically interested in whether this invader accelerated decomposition and how the strength of the litter mixing effect changes with the degree of invasion and over time during litter decomposition. Using litterbags, we evaluated the effect of mixing litter of M. micrantha with the litter of 7 native resident plants, at 3 ratios: M1 (1∶4, = exotic:native litter), M2 (1∶1) and M3 (4∶1, = exotic:native litter) over three incubation periods. We compared mixed litter with unmixed litter of the native species to identify if a non-additive effect of mixing litter existed. We found that there were positive significant non-additive effects of litter mixing on both mass loss and nutrient release. These effects changed with native species identity, mixture ratio and decay times. Overall the greatest accelerations of mixture decay and N release tended to be in the highest degree of invasion (mix ratio M3) and during the middle and final measured stages of decomposition. Contrary to expectations, the initial difference in litter N did not explain species differences in the effect of mixing but overall it appears that invasion by M. micrantha is accelerating the decomposition of native species litter. This effect on a fundamental ecosystem process could contribute to higher rates of nutrient turnover in invaded ecosystems.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 45%

Non-Additive Effects on Decomposition from Mixing Litter of the Invasive Mikania micrantha H.B.K. with Native Plants

et al. 2013

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“…Both species evenness and richness influence ecosystem functions, including decomposition processes (Dangles & Malmqvist 2004;Tilman et al, 2014). Although litter evenness depicted inconsistent effects on decomposition (Hillebrand et al, 2008;Ward et al, 2010;Li et al, 2013), this meta-analysis indicates that the synergistic effect in uneven litter mixtures is slightly higher than in even mixtures (Fig. 4c, answer to Q5).…”

Section: The Non-additive Effect Across All Studiesmentioning

confidence: 72%

Synergistic effect: a common theme in mixed-species litter decomposition

Liu

Song

et al. 2019

Preprint

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20Litter decomposition plays a key role in ecosystem nutrients cycling, yet, to date 21 science is lacking a comprehensive understanding of the non-additive effect in 22 mixing litter decomposition. 23In order to fill that gap, we compiled 69 individual studies for the purpose of 24 performing two sub-meta-analyses on the non-additive effect. 25Our results show that a significantly synergistic effect occurs at global scale with 26 the average increase by 2-4% in litter mixture decomposition; In particular, 27 low-quality litter in mixture shows a significantly synergistic effect, while no 28 significant change is observed with high-quality species. Additionally, the 29 synergistic effect turns into the antagonistic effect when soil fauna is absent or 30 litter decomposition enters into humus-near stage. In contrast to temperate and 31 tropical areas, studies in frigid area also show a significantly antagonistic effect. 32Our meta-analysis provides a systematic evaluation of the non-additive effect in 33 decomposition mixed litters, which is critical for understanding and improving 34 the carbon forecasts and nutrient dynamics. 35 Keywords 36Non-additive effect, litter mixture, litter quality, synergistic effect, litter 37 decomposition, meta-analysis 38 7 were obtained from 16 papers (Table S1). These studies were primarily conducted in 132 East Asia, Western Europe, and North America (Fig. S3). 133For each study, we also noted the factors relevant to the mixing effects including 134 the site location, ecosystem type, species (and its nutrient contents if provided), decay 135 period, mesh size, response variables, and other background information (e.g. mean 136 annual temperatures (MAT), mean annual precipitation (MAP), etc.). 137 Statistical analysis 138The natural log-transformed response ratio (R), defined as the effect size (Hedges et 139 al., 1999), was used as an index to measure the effect level of litter mixture on 140 decomposition rate: 141 372 Barbe, L, Mony C, Jung V, Santonja M, Bartish I, Prinzing A. 2018. Functionally or 373 phylogenetically distinct neighbours turn antagonism among decomposing litter species into 374 synergy.

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“…The C and N mineralization of litter mixtures can differ from that expected based on the decomposition of single components because the composition of the residue can modify the processes involved in decomposition (Hoorens et al, 2002;Gartner and Cardon, 2004;Berglund et al, 2013). The decomposition of residue mixtures has been reported to exhibit synergistic effects (i.e., higher rates of decomposition than expected) (Quemada and Cabrera, 1995;Zeng et al, 2010), negative effects (i.e., lower rates than expected) or additive effects (i.e., rates equal to those expected) (Liu et al, 2007;Li et al, 2013a;Li et al, 2013b). However, high variations in the range of responses of decomposition rates to mixing have been observed (Gartner and Gardon, 2004) depending on the type of residue, time scale and process considered (e.g., mass loss, C mineralization or N dynamics).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

How the chemical composition and heterogeneity of crop residue mixtures decomposing at the soil surface affects C and N mineralization

Redin

Recous

Aita

et al. 2014

Soil Biology and Biochemistry

115

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The effects of leaf litter evenness on decomposition depend on which plant functional group is dominant

Cited by 25 publications

References 55 publications

Non-Additive Effects on Decomposition from Mixing Litter of the Invasive Mikania micrantha H.B.K. with Native Plants

Non-Additive Effects on Decomposition from Mixing Litter of the Invasive Mikania micrantha H.B.K. with Native Plants

Synergistic effect: a common theme in mixed-species litter decomposition

How the chemical composition and heterogeneity of crop residue mixtures decomposing at the soil surface affects C and N mineralization

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