Exploring drivers of litter decomposition in a greening Arctic: Results from a transplant experiment across a tree-line (Forthcoming)
Decomposition of plant litter is a key control over carbon (C) storage in the soil. The biochemistry of the litter being produced, the environment in which the decomposition is taking place, and the community composition and metabolism of the decomposer organisms exert a combined influence over deco...
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Ecological Society of America
2018
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ftunivstirling:oai:dspace.stir.ac.uk:1893/27428 2023-05-15T14:26:45+02:00 Exploring drivers of litter decomposition in a greening Arctic: Results from a transplant experiment across a tree-line (Forthcoming) Parker, Thomas C Sanderman, Jonathan Holden, Robert D Blume-Werry, Gesche Sjögersten, Sofie Large, David Castro-Díaz, Miguel Street, Lorna E Subke, Jens-Arne Wookey, Philip A European Commission Natural Environment Research Council Biological and Environmental Sciences Woods Hole Research Center Swedish Polar Research Secretariat Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald University of Nottingham University of Edinburgh orcid:0000-0001-9244-639X 2018-06-21 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/1893/27428 http://dspace.stir.ac.uk/retrieve/3915af2c-e3db-4020-a2b7-a91a78cdfe20/Parker%20et%20al.%20Abisko%20Litter%20Ecology%20Final_STORRE.pdf en eng Ecological Society of America Parker TC, Sanderman J, Holden RD, Blume-Werry G, Sjögersten S, Large D, Castro-Díaz M, Street LE, Subke J & Wookey PA (2018) Exploring drivers of litter decomposition in a greening Arctic: Results from a transplant experiment across a tree-line (Forthcoming), Ecology. http://hdl.handle.net/1893/27428 930315 http://dspace.stir.ac.uk/retrieve/3915af2c-e3db-4020-a2b7-a91a78cdfe20/Parker%20et%20al.%20Abisko%20Litter%20Ecology%20Final_STORRE.pdf This item has been embargoed for a period. During the embargo please use the Request a Copy feature at the foot of the Repository record to request a copy directly from the author. You can only request a copy if you wish to use this work for your own research or private study. 2020-06-11 [Parker et al. Abisko Litter Ecology Final_STORRE.pdf] Until this work is published there will be an embargo on the full text of this work. vegetation change litter decomposition Arctic tundra forest snow Journal Article AM - Accepted Manuscript 2018 ftunivstirling 2022-06-13T18:46:12Z Decomposition of plant litter is a key control over carbon (C) storage in the soil. The biochemistry of the litter being produced, the environment in which the decomposition is taking place, and the community composition and metabolism of the decomposer organisms exert a combined influence over decomposition rates. As deciduous shrubs and trees are expanding into tundra ecosystems as a result of regional climate warming, this change in vegetation represents a change in litter input to tundra soils and a change in the environment in which litter decomposes. To test the importance of litter biochemistry and environment in determining litter mass loss, we reciprocally transplanted litter between heath (Empetrum nigrum), shrub (Betula nana) and forest (Betula pubescens) at a sub-arctic tree-line in Sweden. As expansion of shrubs and trees promotes deeper snow, we also used a snow fence experiment in a tundra heath environment to understand the importance of snow depth, relative to other factors, in the decomposition of litter. Our results show that B. pubescens and B. nana leaf litter decomposed at faster rates than E. nigrum litter across all environments, while all litter species decomposed at faster rates in the forest and shrub environments than in the tundra heath. The effect of increased snow on decomposition was minimal, leading us to conclude that microbial activity over summer in the productive forest and shrub vegetation is driving increased mass loss compared to the heath. Using B. pubescens and E. nigrum litter, we demonstrate that degradation of carbohydrate-C is a significant driver of mass loss in the forest. This pathway was less prominent in the heath, which is consistent with observations that tundra soils typically have high concentrations of ‘labile’ C. This experiment suggests that further expansion of shrubs and trees may stimulate the loss of undecomposed carbohydrate-C in the tundra. REF Compliant by Deposit in Stirling's Repository Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Betula nana Empetrum nigrum Tundra University of Stirling: Stirling Digital Research Repository Arctic |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Stirling: Stirling Digital Research Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivstirling |
language |
English |
topic |
vegetation change litter decomposition Arctic tundra forest snow |
spellingShingle |
vegetation change litter decomposition Arctic tundra forest snow Parker, Thomas C Sanderman, Jonathan Holden, Robert D Blume-Werry, Gesche Sjögersten, Sofie Large, David Castro-Díaz, Miguel Street, Lorna E Subke, Jens-Arne Wookey, Philip A Exploring drivers of litter decomposition in a greening Arctic: Results from a transplant experiment across a tree-line (Forthcoming) |
topic_facet |
vegetation change litter decomposition Arctic tundra forest snow |
description |
Decomposition of plant litter is a key control over carbon (C) storage in the soil. The biochemistry of the litter being produced, the environment in which the decomposition is taking place, and the community composition and metabolism of the decomposer organisms exert a combined influence over decomposition rates. As deciduous shrubs and trees are expanding into tundra ecosystems as a result of regional climate warming, this change in vegetation represents a change in litter input to tundra soils and a change in the environment in which litter decomposes. To test the importance of litter biochemistry and environment in determining litter mass loss, we reciprocally transplanted litter between heath (Empetrum nigrum), shrub (Betula nana) and forest (Betula pubescens) at a sub-arctic tree-line in Sweden. As expansion of shrubs and trees promotes deeper snow, we also used a snow fence experiment in a tundra heath environment to understand the importance of snow depth, relative to other factors, in the decomposition of litter. Our results show that B. pubescens and B. nana leaf litter decomposed at faster rates than E. nigrum litter across all environments, while all litter species decomposed at faster rates in the forest and shrub environments than in the tundra heath. The effect of increased snow on decomposition was minimal, leading us to conclude that microbial activity over summer in the productive forest and shrub vegetation is driving increased mass loss compared to the heath. Using B. pubescens and E. nigrum litter, we demonstrate that degradation of carbohydrate-C is a significant driver of mass loss in the forest. This pathway was less prominent in the heath, which is consistent with observations that tundra soils typically have high concentrations of ‘labile’ C. This experiment suggests that further expansion of shrubs and trees may stimulate the loss of undecomposed carbohydrate-C in the tundra. REF Compliant by Deposit in Stirling's Repository |
author2 |
European Commission Natural Environment Research Council Biological and Environmental Sciences Woods Hole Research Center Swedish Polar Research Secretariat Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald University of Nottingham University of Edinburgh orcid:0000-0001-9244-639X |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Parker, Thomas C Sanderman, Jonathan Holden, Robert D Blume-Werry, Gesche Sjögersten, Sofie Large, David Castro-Díaz, Miguel Street, Lorna E Subke, Jens-Arne Wookey, Philip A |
author_facet |
Parker, Thomas C Sanderman, Jonathan Holden, Robert D Blume-Werry, Gesche Sjögersten, Sofie Large, David Castro-Díaz, Miguel Street, Lorna E Subke, Jens-Arne Wookey, Philip A |
author_sort |
Parker, Thomas C |
title |
Exploring drivers of litter decomposition in a greening Arctic: Results from a transplant experiment across a tree-line (Forthcoming) |
title_short |
Exploring drivers of litter decomposition in a greening Arctic: Results from a transplant experiment across a tree-line (Forthcoming) |
title_full |
Exploring drivers of litter decomposition in a greening Arctic: Results from a transplant experiment across a tree-line (Forthcoming) |
title_fullStr |
Exploring drivers of litter decomposition in a greening Arctic: Results from a transplant experiment across a tree-line (Forthcoming) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Exploring drivers of litter decomposition in a greening Arctic: Results from a transplant experiment across a tree-line (Forthcoming) |
title_sort |
exploring drivers of litter decomposition in a greening arctic: results from a transplant experiment across a tree-line (forthcoming) |
publisher |
Ecological Society of America |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1893/27428 http://dspace.stir.ac.uk/retrieve/3915af2c-e3db-4020-a2b7-a91a78cdfe20/Parker%20et%20al.%20Abisko%20Litter%20Ecology%20Final_STORRE.pdf |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Betula nana Empetrum nigrum Tundra |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Betula nana Empetrum nigrum Tundra |
op_relation |
Parker TC, Sanderman J, Holden RD, Blume-Werry G, Sjögersten S, Large D, Castro-Díaz M, Street LE, Subke J & Wookey PA (2018) Exploring drivers of litter decomposition in a greening Arctic: Results from a transplant experiment across a tree-line (Forthcoming), Ecology. http://hdl.handle.net/1893/27428 930315 http://dspace.stir.ac.uk/retrieve/3915af2c-e3db-4020-a2b7-a91a78cdfe20/Parker%20et%20al.%20Abisko%20Litter%20Ecology%20Final_STORRE.pdf |
op_rights |
This item has been embargoed for a period. During the embargo please use the Request a Copy feature at the foot of the Repository record to request a copy directly from the author. You can only request a copy if you wish to use this work for your own research or private study. 2020-06-11 [Parker et al. Abisko Litter Ecology Final_STORRE.pdf] Until this work is published there will be an embargo on the full text of this work. |
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1766300159466012672 |