ArticleEcology and evolution2020
Tree litter functional diversity and nitrogen concentration enhance litter decomposition via changes in earthworm communities.
Article in Ecology and evolution, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- Autumn leaf color brightness of Japanese alpine vegetation is projected to decrease under future climate change.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Forest carbon stocks increase with higher dominance of ectomycorrhizal trees in high latitude forests.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Litter nitrogen concentration changes mediate effects of drought and plant species richness on litter decomposition.Oecologia · 2022Article
- Leaf litter identity rather than diversity shapes microbial functions and microarthropod abundance in tropical montane rainforests.Ecology and evolution · 2021Article
- Tree litter functional diversity and nitrogen concentration enhance litter decomposition via changes in earthworm communities.Ecology and evolution · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Biodiversity is a major driver of numerous ecosystem functions. However, consequences of changes in forest biodiversity remain difficult to predict because of limited knowledge about how tree diversity influences ecosystem functions. Litter decomposition is a key process affecting nutrient cycling, productivity, and carbon storage and can be influenced by plant biodiversity. Leaf litter species composition, environmental conditions, and the detritivore community are main components of the decomposition process, but their complex interactions are poorly understood. In this study, we tested the effect of tree functional diversity (FD) on litter decomposition in a field experiment manipulating tree diversity and partitioned the effects of litter physiochemical diversity and the detritivore community. We used litterbags with different mesh sizes to separate the effects of microorganisms and microfauna, mesofauna, and macrofauna and monitored soil fauna using pitfall traps and earthworm extractions. We hypothesized that higher tree litter FD accelerates litter decomposition due to the availability of complementary food components and higher activity of detritivores. Although we did not find direct effects of tree FD on litter decomposition, we identified key litter traits and macrodetritivores that explained part of the process. Litter mass loss was found to decrease with an increase in leaf litter carbon:nitrogen ratio. Moreover, litter mass loss increased with an increasing density of epigeic earthworms, with most pronounced effects in litterbags with a smaller mesh size, indicating indirect effects. Higher litter FD and litter nutrient content were found to increase the density of surface-dwelling macrofauna and epigeic earthworm biomass. Based on structural equation modeling, we conclude that tree FD has a weak positive effect on soil surface litter decomposition by increasing the density of epigeic earthworms and that litter nitrogen-related traits play a central role in tree composition effects on soil fauna and decomposition.
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