ArticleScientific reports2017
Riparian plant litter quality increases with latitude.
Article in Scientific reports, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Riparian Forests and Macroinvertebrates Support Multiple Ecosystem Processes Across Temperate and Tropical Streams.Ecosystems (New York, N.Y.) · 2026Article
- Regulatory Mechanisms of Tannins on the Decomposition Rate of Mixed Leaf Litter in Submerged Environments.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Litter Quality Is a Stronger Driver than Temperature of Early Microbial Decomposition in Oligotrophic Streams: a Microcosm Study.Microbial ecology · 2021Article
- Latitude dictates plant diversity effects on instream decomposition.Science advances · 2021Article
- Litter Quality Modulates Effects of Dissolved Nitrogen on Leaf Decomposition by Stream Microbial Communities.Microbial ecology · 2019Article
- Simulating rewetting events in intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams: A global analysis of leached nutrients and organic matter.Global change biology · 2019Article
- Global patterns and drivers of ecosystem functioning in rivers and riparian zones.Science advances · 2019Article
- Climate-driven changes of riparian plant functional types in permanent headwater streams. Implications for stream food webs.PloS one · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
32 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Plant litter represents a major basal resource in streams, where its decomposition is partly regulated by litter traits. Litter-trait variation may determine the latitudinal gradient in decomposition in streams, which is mainly microbial in the tropics and detritivore-mediated at high latitudes. However, this hypothesis remains untested, as we lack information on large-scale trait variation for riparian litter. Variation cannot easily be inferred from existing leaf-trait databases, since nutrient resorption can cause traits of litter and green leaves to diverge. Here we present the first global-scale assessment of riparian litter quality by determining latitudinal variation (spanning 107°) in litter traits (nutrient concentrations; physical and chemical defences) of 151 species from 24 regions and their relationships with environmental factors and phylogeny. We hypothesized that litter quality would increase with latitude (despite variation within regions) and traits would be correlated to produce 'syndromes' resulting from phylogeny and environmental variation. We found lower litter quality and higher nitrogen:phosphorus ratios in the tropics. Traits were linked but showed no phylogenetic signal, suggesting that syndromes were environmentally determined. Poorer litter quality and greater phosphorus limitation towards the equator may restrict detritivore-mediated decomposition, contributing to the predominance of microbial decomposers in tropical streams.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.