Data from: Decomposition of leaf litter mixtures across biomes: The role of litter identity, diversity and soil fauna ...

• Main Authors: Zhou, Shixing, Butenschoen, Olaf, Barantal, Sandra, Handa, I. Tanya, Makkonen, Marika, Vos, Veronique, Aerts, Rien, Berg, Matty P., McKie, Brendan, Van Ruijven, Jasper, Hättenschwiler, Stephan, Scheu, Stefan
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2020
• Subjects: Bor; Subarctic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.9cnp5hqdk; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.9cnp5hqdk

1. At broad spatial scales, the factors regulating litter decomposition remain ambiguous, with the understanding of these factors largely based on studies investigating site-specific single litter species, whereas studies using multi litter species mixtures across sites are rare. 2. We exposed in microcosms containing single species and all possible mixtures of four leaf litter species differing widely in initial chemical and physical characteristics from a temperate forest to the climatic conditions of four different forests across the northern hemisphere for one year. 3. Calcium, magnesium and condensed tannins predicted litter mass loss of single litter species and mixtures across forest types and biomes, regardless of species richness and microarthropod presence. However, relative mixture effects differed among forest types and varied with the access to the litter by microarthropods. Access to the microcosms by microarthropods modified the decomposition of individual litter species within mixtures, which ... : Litter mass loss (% of initial) of Ilex aquifolium (I), Alnus glutinosa (A), Salix cinerea (S), and Fagus sylvatica (F) incubated as single litter species and mixtures in the subarctic (Sub), boreal (Bor), temperate (Temp) and Mediterranean forest (Med). ...