Highly consistent effects of plant litter identity and functional traits on decomposition across a latitudinal gradient
Plant litter decomposition is a key process in terrestrial carbon cycling, yet the relative importance of various control factors remains ambiguous at a global scale. A full reciprocal litter transplant study with 16 litter species that varied widely in traits and originated from four forest sites c...
Published in: | Ecology Letters |
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Online Access: | https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/highly-consistent-effects-of-plant-litter-identity-and-functional https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2012.01826.x |
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ftunivwagenin:oai:library.wur.nl:wurpubs/426942 2024-02-04T10:04:51+01:00 Highly consistent effects of plant litter identity and functional traits on decomposition across a latitudinal gradient Makkonen, M. Berg, M.P. Handa, I.T. Hättenschwiler, S. van Ruijven, J. van Bodegom, P.M. Aerts, M.A.P.A. 2012 text/plain https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/highly-consistent-effects-of-plant-litter-identity-and-functional https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2012.01826.x en eng https://edepot.wur.nl/220058 https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/highly-consistent-effects-of-plant-litter-identity-and-functional doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2012.01826.x info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Wageningen University & Research Ecology Letters 15 (2012) 9 ISSN: 1461-023X carbon-cycle central argentina climate diversity dynamics leaf-litter quality rates terrestrial ecosystems tropical rain-forest info:eu-repo/semantics/article Article/Letter to editor info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2012 ftunivwagenin https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2012.01826.x 2024-01-10T23:21:37Z Plant litter decomposition is a key process in terrestrial carbon cycling, yet the relative importance of various control factors remains ambiguous at a global scale. A full reciprocal litter transplant study with 16 litter species that varied widely in traits and originated from four forest sites covering a large latitudinal gradient (subarctic to tropics) showed a consistent interspecific ranking of decomposition rates. At a global scale, variation in decomposition was driven by a small subset of litter traits (water saturation capacity and concentrations of magnesium and condensed tannins). These consistent findings, that were largely independent of the varying local decomposer communities, suggest that decomposer communities show little specialisation and high metabolic flexibility in processing plant litter, irrespective of litter origin. Our results provide strong support for using trait-based approaches in modelling the global decomposition component of biosphere-atmosphere carbon fluxes Article in Journal/Newspaper Subarctic Wageningen UR (University & Research Centre): Digital Library Argentina Ecology Letters 15 9 1033 1041 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Wageningen UR (University & Research Centre): Digital Library |
op_collection_id |
ftunivwagenin |
language |
English |
topic |
carbon-cycle central argentina climate diversity dynamics leaf-litter quality rates terrestrial ecosystems tropical rain-forest |
spellingShingle |
carbon-cycle central argentina climate diversity dynamics leaf-litter quality rates terrestrial ecosystems tropical rain-forest Makkonen, M. Berg, M.P. Handa, I.T. Hättenschwiler, S. van Ruijven, J. van Bodegom, P.M. Aerts, M.A.P.A. Highly consistent effects of plant litter identity and functional traits on decomposition across a latitudinal gradient |
topic_facet |
carbon-cycle central argentina climate diversity dynamics leaf-litter quality rates terrestrial ecosystems tropical rain-forest |
description |
Plant litter decomposition is a key process in terrestrial carbon cycling, yet the relative importance of various control factors remains ambiguous at a global scale. A full reciprocal litter transplant study with 16 litter species that varied widely in traits and originated from four forest sites covering a large latitudinal gradient (subarctic to tropics) showed a consistent interspecific ranking of decomposition rates. At a global scale, variation in decomposition was driven by a small subset of litter traits (water saturation capacity and concentrations of magnesium and condensed tannins). These consistent findings, that were largely independent of the varying local decomposer communities, suggest that decomposer communities show little specialisation and high metabolic flexibility in processing plant litter, irrespective of litter origin. Our results provide strong support for using trait-based approaches in modelling the global decomposition component of biosphere-atmosphere carbon fluxes |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Makkonen, M. Berg, M.P. Handa, I.T. Hättenschwiler, S. van Ruijven, J. van Bodegom, P.M. Aerts, M.A.P.A. |
author_facet |
Makkonen, M. Berg, M.P. Handa, I.T. Hättenschwiler, S. van Ruijven, J. van Bodegom, P.M. Aerts, M.A.P.A. |
author_sort |
Makkonen, M. |
title |
Highly consistent effects of plant litter identity and functional traits on decomposition across a latitudinal gradient |
title_short |
Highly consistent effects of plant litter identity and functional traits on decomposition across a latitudinal gradient |
title_full |
Highly consistent effects of plant litter identity and functional traits on decomposition across a latitudinal gradient |
title_fullStr |
Highly consistent effects of plant litter identity and functional traits on decomposition across a latitudinal gradient |
title_full_unstemmed |
Highly consistent effects of plant litter identity and functional traits on decomposition across a latitudinal gradient |
title_sort |
highly consistent effects of plant litter identity and functional traits on decomposition across a latitudinal gradient |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/highly-consistent-effects-of-plant-litter-identity-and-functional https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2012.01826.x |
geographic |
Argentina |
geographic_facet |
Argentina |
genre |
Subarctic |
genre_facet |
Subarctic |
op_source |
Ecology Letters 15 (2012) 9 ISSN: 1461-023X |
op_relation |
https://edepot.wur.nl/220058 https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/highly-consistent-effects-of-plant-litter-identity-and-functional doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2012.01826.x |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Wageningen University & Research |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2012.01826.x |
container_title |
Ecology Letters |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
1033 |
op_container_end_page |
1041 |
_version_ |
1789973597786210304 |