There's no place like home? An exploration of the mechanisms behind plant litter–decomposer affinity in terrestrial ecosystems

Austin, Amy T.; Vivanco, Lucía; González-Arzac, Adelia; Pérez, Luis I.

doi:10.1111/nph.12959

Cited by 221 publications

(198 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…Phys., 16, 3903-3925, 2016 www of decomposition of dead organic matter. Although the ecological functional role of these sesquiterpenes is not known, abiotic emissions from the litter have a specific signature that can be similar to the concentration profile in the green leaf content (Austin et al, 2014) and in sufficient concentration BVOCs can have the capacity of attracting and repelling soil organisms to a specific location (Austin et al, 2014). Therefore, higher sesquiterpene emissions from the litter could be a signal to the fauna related to the decomposition process and represent an important step of the biogeochemical cycling.…”

Section: E G Alves Et Al: Seasonality Of Isoprenoid Emissions Frommentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonality of isoprenoid emissions from a primary rainforest in central Amazonia

Alves¹,

Jardine²,

Tóta³

et al. 2016

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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Abstract. Tropical rainforests are an important source of isoprenoid and other volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions to the atmosphere. The seasonal variation of these compounds is however still poorly understood. In this study, vertical profiles of mixing ratios of isoprene, total monoterpenes and total sesquiterpenes, were measured within and above the canopy, in a primary rainforest in central Amazonia, using a proton transfer reaction -mass spectrometer (PTR-MS). Fluxes of these compounds from the canopy into the atmosphere were estimated from PTR-MS measurements by using an inverse Lagrangian transport model. Measurements were carried out continuously from September 2010 to January 2011, encompassing the dry and wet seasons. Mixing ratios were higher during the dry (isoprene -2.68 ± 0.9 ppbv, total monoterpenes -0.67 ± 0.3 ppbv; total sesquiterpenes -0.09 ± 0.07 ppbv) than the wet season (isoprene -1.66 ± 0.9 ppbv, total monoterpenes -0.47 ± 0.2 ppbv; total sesquiterpenes -0.03±0.02 ppbv) for all compounds. Ambient air temperature and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) behaved similarly. Daytime isoprene and total monoterpene mixing ratios were highest within the canopy, rather than near the ground or above the canopy. By comparison, daytime total sesquiterpene mixing ratios were highest near the ground. Daytime fluxes varied significantly between seasons for all compounds. The maximums for isoprene (2.53 ± 0.5 µmol m −2 h −1 ) and total monoterpenes (1.77 ± 0.05 µmol m −2 h −1 ) were observed in the late dry season, whereas the maximum for total sesquiterpenes Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. E. G. Alves et al.: Seasonality of isoprenoid emissions from a primary rainforest, Amazoniawas found during the dry-to-wet transition season (0.77 ± 0.1 µmol m −2 h −1 ). These flux estimates suggest that the canopy is the main source of isoprenoids emitted into the atmosphere for all seasons. However, uncertainties in turbulence parameterization near the ground could affect estimates of fluxes that come from the ground. Leaf phenology seemed to be an important driver of seasonal variation of isoprenoid emissions. Although remote sensing observations of changes in leaf area index were used to estimate leaf phenology, MEGAN 2.1 did not fully capture the behavior of seasonal emissions observed in this study. This could be a result of very local effects on the observed emissions, but also suggest that other parameters need to be better determined in biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) models. Our results support established findings that seasonality of isoprenoids are driven by seasonal changes in light, temperature and leaf phenology. However, they suggest that leaf phenology and its role on isoprenoid production and emission from tropical plant species needs to be better understood in order to develop mechanistic explanations for seasonal variation in emissions. This also may reduce the uncertainties of model estimates associated with the responses to en...

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Section: E G Alves Et Al: Seasonality Of Isoprenoid Emissions Frommentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonality of isoprenoid emissions from a primary rainforest in central Amazonia

Alves¹,

Jardine²,

Tóta³

et al. 2016

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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“…Elevated contents of polyphenols and other secondary components in leaf and root tissue retard litter decomposition and nutrient release and favor mycorrhizal fungi in oligotrophic humid tropical vegetation [61]. Plant species differentially affect and occasionally even control the soil microbiota in their surrounding "influence zones" of the litter layer, stemflow, and roots [62][63][64], and affect the spatial variability of soil physico-chemistry [65].…”

Section: Factors Influencing Organic Matter In Soils Of the Humid Tromentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving Farming Practices for Sustainable Soil Use in the Humid Tropics and Rainforest Ecosystem Health

et al. 2016

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Abstract:Unsustainable farming practices such as shifting cultivation and slash-and-burn agriculture in the humid tropics threaten the preservation of the rainforest and the health of the local and global environment. In weathered soils prone to cohesion in humid tropic due to low Fe and carbon content and the enormous amounts of P that can be adsorbed, sustainable soil use is heavily dependent on the availability and efficient use of nutrients. This paper reviews the literature in the field and provides some insights about sustainable soil use in the humid tropics, mainly for the Brazilian Amazonia region. Careful management of organic matter and physical and chemical indicators is necessary to enhance root growth and nutrient uptake. To improve the rootability of the arable layer, a combination of gypsum with continuous mulching to increase the labile organic matter fraction responsible for the formation of a short-lived structure important for root growth is recommended, rather than tillage. Unlike mulching, mechanical disturbance via ploughing of Amazonian soils causes very rapid and permanent soil organic matter losses and often results in permanent recompaction and land degradation or anthropic savannization; thus, it should be avoided. Unlike in other regions, like southeast Brazil, saturating the soil solely with inorganic potassium and nitrogen soluble fertilizers is not recommended. Nutrient retention in the root zone can be enhanced if nutrients are added in a slow-release form and if biologically mediated processes are used for nutrient release, as occurs in green manure. Therefore, an alternative that favors using local resources to increase the supply of nutrients and offset processes that impair the efficiency of nutrient use must be pursued.

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“…Litter decomposition is influenced by litter quality and soil biotic and abiotic conditions (Cornwell et al 2008;Austin et al 2014;Bradford et al 2016). Answering the question how sequential plant occupation of a soil patch influences litter decomposition is essential for carbon and nutrient management.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Decomposer communities adapt to the quality of the dominant litter (Freschet, Aerts & Cornelissen 2012a;Austin et al 2014), resulting in faster decomposition of home-litter than of away litter, also known as home-field advantage. Thus, plants may influence decomposition not only by the input of their litter and its quality but also through their legacy effects on biotic and abiotic soil properties.…”

Section: Plant Legacy Effects On Litter Decompositionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Repeated litter inputs can result in functional specialisation of the local decomposer community, which decomposes home-litters faster than foreign litters: the so-called home-field advantage (HFA) (Ayres et al 2009;Keiser et al 2011;Austin et al 2014). Such litter affinity can also occur with introduced litters of similar quality as the home-litter, wherein affinity decreases with increasing quality-contrast between the home and introduced litters (Freschet, Aerts & Cornelissen 2012a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A plant’s inheritance : Soil legacy effects of crops and wild relatives in relation to plant functional traits

Barel¹

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During crop domestication plant characteristics have been artificially selected for, with potential unwanted side-effects as some characteristics might have been altered unintentionally. Since productivity in agriculture relies on the interactions between plant and soil, it is a necessity to study the relationship between plant traits, decomposition, microbial community composition and the possible effects on future plant growth.This thesis presents results from several experiments studying how plants influence the soil, through decomposition of plant residues, the soil microbial community assemblage, and its possible consequence for subsequent plant growth. In a crop rotation experiment plant-soil feedback effects have been studied at field scale, with legacy effects of winter cover crops as the primary focus. Influences of plant traits on litter decomposition and microbial community were studied both in a field context and under controlled greenhouse conditions. By comparing the legacy effects of crops with close-relatives from natural grasslands the effects of domestication on litter decomposition and rhizosphere microbial community composition were explored.In the field experiment, it was observed that mixtures of cover crops can perform better than the sum of their parts when the plants in the mixture complemented each other during their growth. Productivity and quality of cover crops was found to promote growth of subsequent main crops, in part through stimulation of soil fungal biomass and feedback effects of decomposing litter. In the greenhouse, growing plants were observed to suppress decomposition of root and shoot litter to varying extent depending on which plant was present and on the quality of the decomposing litter. The results also indicate that domestication has affected plant functional traits in a variety of ways, rather than having predictable effects across a range of crops. Plant functional traits are a useful approach to study legacy effects, as they predict decomposability of plant residues and partially explain the microbial community composition in the rhizosphere. Significance of plant traits as predictors varied with environmental conditions, thus interpretation of the results should be related to its context. This thesis contributes to the understanding of plant-soil interactions, with emphasis on differences and similarities of agricultural and natural ecosystems.

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There's no place like home? An exploration of the mechanisms behind plant litter–decomposer affinity in terrestrial ecosystems

Cited by 221 publications

References 66 publications

Seasonality of isoprenoid emissions from a primary rainforest in central Amazonia

Seasonality of isoprenoid emissions from a primary rainforest in central Amazonia

Improving Farming Practices for Sustainable Soil Use in the Humid Tropics and Rainforest Ecosystem Health

A plant’s inheritance : Soil legacy effects of crops and wild relatives in relation to plant functional traits

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