Decomposition was studied in a reciprocal litter transplant experiment to examine the effects of forest type, litter quality and their interaction on leaf decomposition in four tropical forests in south-east Brazil. Litterbags were used to measure decomposition of leaves of one tree species from each forest type:Calophyllum brasiliensefrom restinga forest;Guapira oppositafrom Atlantic forest;Esenbeckia leiocarpafrom semi-deciduous forest; andCopaifera langsdorffiifrom cerradão. Decomposition rates in rain forests (Atlantic and restinga) were twice as fast as those in seasonal forests (semi-deciduous and cerradão), suggesting that intensity and distribution of precipitation are important predictors of decomposition rates at regional scales. Decomposition rates varied by species, in the following order:E. leiocarpa>C. langsdorffii>G. opposita>C. brasiliense. However, there was no correlation between decomposition rates and chemical litter quality parameters: C:N, C:P, lignin concentration and lignin:N. The interaction between forest type and litter quality was positive mainly becauseC. langsdorffiidecomposed faster than expected in its native forest. This is a potential indication of a decomposer's adaptation to specific substrates in a tropical forest. These findings suggest that besides climate, interactions between decomposers and plants might play an essential role in decomposition processes and it must be better understood.

In addition to the effect of litter quality (LQ) on decomposition, increasing evidence is demonstrating that carbon mineralization can be influenced by the past resource history, mainly through following two processes: (1) decomposer communities from recalcitrant litter environments may have a wider functional ability to decompose a wide range of litter species than those originating from richer environments, i.e., the functional breadth (FB) hypothesis; and/or (2) decomposer communities may be specialized towards the litter they most frequently encounter, i.e., the home-field advantage (HFA) hypothesis. Nevertheless, the functional dissimilarities among contrasting microbial communities, which are generated by the FB and the HFA, have rarely been simultaneously quantified in the same experiment, and their relative contributions over time have never been assessed. To test these hypotheses, we conducted a reciprocal transplant decomposition experiment under controlled conditions using litter and soil originating from four ecosystems along a land-use gradient (forest, plantation, grassland, and cropland) and one additional treatment using 13C-labelled flax litter allowing us to assess the priming effect (PE) in each ecosystem. We found substantial effects of LQ on carbon mineralization (more than two-thirds of the explained variance), whereas the contribution of the soil type was fairly low (less than one-tenth), suggesting that the contrasting soil microbial communities play only a minor role in regulating decomposition rates. Although the results on PE showed that we overestimated litter-derived CO2 fluxes, litter-microbe interactions contributed significantly to the unexplained variance observed in carbon mineralization models. The magnitudes of FB and HFA were relatively similar, but the directions of these mechanisms were sometimes opposite depending on the litter and soil types. FB and HFA estimates calculated on parietal sugar mass loss were positively correlated with those calculated on enzymatic activity, confirming the idea that the interaction between litter quality and microbial community structure may modify the trajectory of carbon mineralization via enzymatic synthesis. We conclude that although litter quality was the predominant factor controlling litter mineralization, the local microbial communities and interactions with their substrates can explain a small (< 5%) but noticeable portion of carbon fluxes.

Plants often associate with specialized decomposer communities that increase plant litter breakdown, which is known as the 'home-field advantage' (HFA). Although the concept of HFA has long considered only the role of the soil microbial community, explicit consideration of the role of the microbial community on the foliage prior to litter fall (i.e., the phyllosphere community) may help us to better understand HFA. We investigated the occurrence of HFA in the presence versus absence of phyllosphere communities and found that HFA effects were less when phyllosphere communities were removed. We propose that priority effects and interactions between phyllosphere and soil organisms can help explain the positive effects of phyllosphere at home, and suggest a path forward for further investigation.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Proper estimates of decomposition are essential for tropical forests, given their key role in the global carbon (C) cycle. However, the current paradigm for litter decomposition is insufficient to account for recent observations and may limit model predictions for highly diverse tropical ecosystems. In light of recent findings from a nutrient-poor Amazonian rainforest, we revisit the commonly held views that: litter traits are a mere legacy of live leaf traits; nitrogen (N) and lignin are the key litter traits controlling decomposition; and favourable climatic conditions result in rapid decomposition in tropical forests. Substantial interspecific variation in litter phosphorus (P) was found to be unrelated to variation in green leaves. Litter nutrients explained no variation in decomposition, which instead was controlled primarily by non-lignin litter C compounds at low concentrations with important soil fauna effects. Despite near-optimal climatic conditions, tropical litter decomposition proceeded more slowly than in a climatically less favourable temperate forest. We suggest that slow decomposition in the studied rainforest results from a syndrome of poor litter C quality beyond a simple lignin control, enforcing energy starvation of decomposers.We hypothesize that the litter trait syndrome in nutrient-poor tropical rainforests may have evolved to increase plant access to limiting nutrients via mycorrhizal associations.

We studied the effects of tree species on leaf litter decomposition and forest floor dynamics in a common garden experiment of 14 tree species (Abies alba, Acer platanoides, Acer pseudoplatanus, Betula pendula, Carpinus betulus, Fagus sylvatica, Larix decidua, Picea abies, Pinus nigra, Pinus sylvestris, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Quercus robur, Quercus rubra, and Tilia cordata) in southwestern Poland. We used three simultaneous litter bag experiments to tease apart species effects on decomposition via leaf litter chemistry vs. effects on the decomposition environment. Decomposition rates of litter in its plot of origin were negatively correlated with litter lignin and positively correlated with mean annual soil temperature (MAT(soil)) across species. Likewise, decomposition of a common litter type across all plots was positively associated with MAT(soil), and decomposition of litter from all plots in a common plot was negatively related to litter lignin but positively related to litter Ca. Taken together, these results indicate that tree species influenced microbial decomposition primarily via differences in litter lignin (and secondarily, via differences in litter Ca), with high-lignin (and low-Ca) species decomposing most slowly, and by affecting MAT(soil), with warmer plots exhibiting more rapid decomposition. In addition to litter bag experiments, we examined forest floor dynamics in each plot by mass balance, since earthworms were a known component of these forest stands and their access to litter in litter bags was limited. Forest floor removal rates estimated from mass balance were positively related to leaf litter Ca (and unrelated to decay rates obtained using litter bags). Litter Ca, in turn, was positively related to the abundance of earthworms, particularly Lumbricus terrestris. Thus, while species influence microbially mediated decomposition primarily through differences in litter lignin, differences among species in litter Ca are most important in determining species effects on forest floor leaf litter dynamics among these 14 tree species, apparently because of the influence of litter Ca on earthworm activity. The overall influence of these tree species on leaf litter decomposition via effects on both microbial and faunal processing will only become clear when we can quantify the decay dynamics of litter that is translocated belowground by earthworms.

Litter often decomposes faster in its environment of origin (at 'home') than in a foreign environment ('away'), which has become known as the home-field advantage (HFA). However, many studies have highlighted the conditional nature of the HFA, suggesting that current understanding of this phenomenon is not yet sufficient to generalize across systems.The HFA hypothesis was tested for mono-specific and mixed-species litter using a tree-based experiment that manipulated the functional identity and diversity of the host tree community. Litter types of varying quality were transplanted between several host tree communities and decomposition rates were measured using litterbags. Since the decomposer community should respond to traits of the litter input and not their taxonomic identity, a traits-based index of litter-tree similarity was developed.Mono-specific litter exhibited HFA, but when the same litter was decomposed in mixture, this trend was not observed. Mixed-species litter decomposed on average no faster or slower than monoculture litter and exhibited both positive and negative species interactions. These non-additive interactions of decomposition rates in mixture were influenced by the degree of similarity between litter and tree traits. Both synergistic and antagonistic interactions decreased in magnitude with increasing litter-tree similarity such that mixture rates were predictable from monocultures.The HFA occurred more strongly for mono-specific litter than for the litter types mixed together because interactions between species may have masked this effect. However, when expressed as a function of trait similarity between litters and tree communities, the HFA was not detected.© The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

利用凋落物袋法研究了冀北辽河源地区阔叶混交林内山杨、白桦、蒙古栎叶凋落物单一分解及混合分解对0～5、5～10和10～20 cm表层土壤微生物生物量碳、微生物呼吸和微生物代谢熵的影响.结果表明: 0～20 cm土层对照、白桦、山杨和蒙古栎处理的土壤微生物生物量碳平均含量分别为124.84、325.29、349.79和319.02 mg&middot;kg^-1;微生物呼吸平均速率分别为0.66、1.12、1.16和1.10 &mu;g&middot;g^-1&middot;h^-1.0～20 cm土层单一凋落物处理、两种叶凋落物混合处理、3种叶凋落物混合处理的土壤微生物生物量碳平均含量分别为331.37、418.52和529.34 mg&middot;kg^-1;微生物呼吸平均速率分别为1.13、1.30和1.46 &mu;g&middot;g^-1&middot;h^-1.土壤微生物代谢熵则呈现出与微生物生物量碳、微生物呼吸相反的变化趋势.说明凋落物质量不同,其土壤微生物碳代谢特征不同,表现为高质量凋落物土壤微生物生物量碳、微生物呼吸速率以及微生物对土壤中有机质的利用效率较高,低质量凋落物则与之相反.植物叶凋落物混合能够增强土壤微生物活性,增加土壤微生物对土壤碳的利用效率,促进土壤微生物代谢途径的多样化,有利于林地土壤质量的维护和提高.

The phyllosphere harbors diverse microbial communities that influence ecosystem functioning. Emerging evidence suggests that plants impaired in genetic networks harbor an altered microbiome and develop dysbiosis in the phyllosphere, which pinpoints plant genetics as a key driver of the phyllosphere microbiome assembly and links the phyllosphere microbiome to plant health.Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Phyllosphere fungi occur on various litters, but the ecology of these fungi on leaf litter has received little attention. To investigate the occurrence, colonization, and succession of phyllosphere fungi on leaf litter of Fagus crenata Blume, fungi were isolated from living, senescent, freshly fallen, and decomposing leaves by surface sterilization and washing methods. A total of 18 and 47 fungal species were isolated from the interior and surface of living and senescent leaves, respectively, and 15 frequent species were regarded as phyllosphere fungi. These fungi were divided into three groups according to their frequency on freshly fallen and decomposing leaves. Nine species (Group I) occurred frequently on decomposing leaves, two species (Group II) on freshly fallen leaves only, and four species (Group III) were frequent on living or senescent leaves only. Colonization of sterilized, freshly fallen leaves by phyllosphere fungi was investigated to test their ability to infect litter directly after litter fall. Frequencies of four species were lower on sterilized leaves than on unsterilized leaves, whereas frequencies of other species did not differ between sterilized and unsterilized leaves. Successional trends of endophytes and epiphytes were observed during decomposition from freshly fallen to decomposing leaves. The sum of frequencies of endophytes decreased temporarily on freshly fallen leaves and increased on decomposing leaves. The sum of frequencies of epiphytes decreased from freshly fallen to decomposing leaves.Key words: beech, decomposition, endophyte, epiphyte, Xylariaceae.

The ecology of endophytic and epiphytic phyllosphere fungi of forest trees is reviewed with special emphasis on the development of decomposer fungal communities and decomposition processes of leaf litter. A total of 41 genera of phyllosphere fungi have been reported to occur on leaf litter of tree species in 19 genera. The relative proportion of phyllosphere fungi in decomposer fungal communities ranges from 2% to 100%. Phyllosphere fungi generally disappear in the early stages of decomposition, although a few species persist until the late stages. Phyllosphere fungi have the ability to utilize various organic compounds as carbon sources, and the marked decomposing ability is associated with ligninolytic activity. The role of phyllosphere fungi in the decomposition of soluble components during the early stages is relatively small in spite of their frequent occurrence. Recently, the roles of phyllosphere fungi in the decomposition of structural components have been documented with reference to lignin and cellulose decomposition, nutrient dynamics, and accumulation and decomposition of soil organic matter. It is clear from this review that several of the common phyllosphere fungi of forest trees are primarily saprobic, being specifically adapted to colonize and utilize dead host tissue, and that some phyllosphere fungi with marked abilities to decompose litter components play important roles in decomposition of structural components, nutrient dynamics, and soil organic matter accumulation.

Litter decomposition provides the primary source of mineral nitrogen (N) for biological activity in most terrestrial ecosystems. A 10-year decomposition experiment in 21 sites from seven biomes found that net N release from leaf litter is dominantly driven by the initial tissue N concentration and mass remaining regardless of climate, edaphic conditions, or biota. Arid grasslands exposed to high ultraviolet radiation were an exception, where net N release was insensitive to initial N. Roots released N linearly with decomposition and exhibited little net N immobilization. We suggest that fundamental constraints on decomposer physiologies lead to predictable global-scale patterns in net N release during decomposition.

We quantified the biomass allocation patterns to leaves, stems and roots in vegetative plants, and how this is influenced by the growth environment, plant size, evolutionary history and competition. Dose-response curves of allocation were constructed by means of a meta-analysis from a wide array of experimental data. They show that the fraction of whole-plant mass represented by leaves (LMF) increases most strongly with nutrients and decreases most strongly with light. Correction for size-induced allocation patterns diminishes the LMF-response to light, but makes the effect of temperature on LMF more apparent. There is a clear phylogenetic effect on allocation, as eudicots invest relatively more than monocots in leaves, as do gymnosperms compared with woody angiosperms. Plants grown at high densities show a clear increase in the stem fraction. However, in most comparisons across species groups or environmental factors, the variation in LMF is smaller than the variation in one of the other components of the growth analysis equation: the leaf area : leaf mass ratio (SLA). In competitive situations, the stem mass fraction increases to a smaller extent than the specific stem length (stem length : stem mass). Thus, we conclude that plants generally are less able to adjust allocation than to alter organ morphology.© 2011 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2011 New Phytologist Trust.

We measured rates of decomposition at three sites representing the major mixedwood forest types of British Columbia: (i) boreal forests of white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) and trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.); (ii) coastal forests of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) and red alder (Alnus rubra Bong.); and (iii) a wet interior forest of Douglas-fir, paper birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh.), and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Doug. ex Loud.). Mass loss of litter of each species (both pure and in combination with the other species) was measured for 2-5 years in forests of each species to determine (i) if broadleaf litter decomposed faster than needle litter, (ii) if litter decomposed faster in broadleaf or mixedwood forests than in coniferous forests, and (iii) if mixing with broadleaf hastened decomposition of needle litter. The broadleaf litters decomposed faster than needles during the first year but, thereafter, decomposed more slowly, so differences were small after 3 years. Litter tended to decompose faster in the broadleaf forests than in the coniferous forests. There was either no effect or a slight suppression of decomposition when litters were mixed; thus, there was no evidence that addition of broadleaf litter hastened decomposition of needle litter. The results clearly indicate that the mixing of needle litter with broadleaf litter is unlikely to hasten decomposition in mixedwood forests of British Columbia. The main influence of broadleaves was more rapid decomposition in broadleaf or mixedwood forest floors, which does not appear to be simply an effect of litter quality or litter mixing.

All terrestrial ecosystems consist of aboveground and belowground components that interact to influence community- and ecosystem-level processes and properties. Here we show how these components are closely interlinked at the community level, reinforced by a greater degree of specificity between plants and soil organisms than has been previously supposed. As such, aboveground and belowground communities can be powerful mutual drivers, with both positive and negative feedbacks. A combined aboveground-belowground approach to community and ecosystem ecology is enhancing our understanding of the regulation and functional significance of biodiversity and of the environmental impacts of human-induced global change phenomena.

Under the influence of climate change and human activities, sandy grassland in Horqin gradually degenerates into shrubs. In this study, we collected leaf litters of two dominant sand-fixing shrubs,<i>Caraganamicrophylla</i> and <i>Artemisia halodendron</i>,to carry out the interactive transplantation experiments by placing single litter and mixed litter to "home" or "away" environment.wedescirbed CO₂ release and dry matter loss and also compared the difference between measured and predicted CO₂ emissions from mixed litter. We studied the causes of home-field effect and its driving mechanism. Hence, it can provide a theoretical basis for incorporating the home field effect into the litter decomposition model. The results showed that compared with the high-quality leaf litters of <i>C.microphylla</i>, the decomposition of <i>A.halodendron</i> litter had a stronger home field effect. Also, the special effects of soil microbes rather than the transport or storage behavior of soil animals lead to thehome field effect of leaf litter decomposition. In addition, the home field effect of mixed litter is closely related to the similarity of quality of long-term input litter in the decomposing habitat. The greater the quality similarity, the stronger of the home field effect. This study provides a theoretical basis for incorporating the main field effect into the litter decomposition model and improving the simulation accuracy.

在气候变化和人类活动的影响下，科尔沁沙质草地中灌木植物种增加，导致沙质草地逐渐向灌木地转变。选取该地区优势固沙灌木差不嘎蒿（Artemisia halodendron）和小叶锦鸡儿叶（Caragana microphylla）凋落物及其混合凋落物开展交互移置培养试验，分析了培养过程中CO₂释放和干物质损失量以及混合凋落物CO₂释放量实测值与预测值的差异，辨析主场效应产生的原因及其驱动机制，以期为将主场效应纳入到凋落物分解模型提供理论基础。结果表明：与高质量的小叶锦鸡儿叶凋落物相比，质量较低的差不嘎蒿叶凋落物分解具有更强的主场效应；其次，引起叶凋落物分解的主场效应归因于土壤微生物的特化作用，而不是土壤动物的搬运或贮藏行为。此外，混合凋落物主场效应与其分解生境中长期输入的凋落物的质量相似性紧密相关，质量相似性越大，主场效应越强，这也是本研究中混合凋落物分解在差不嘎蒿灌丛土壤下具有较强主场效应的原因。

Ecological shifts that enhance the efficiency of resource acquisition by consumers can affect the fate of resource subsidies in recipient ecosystems. To date, findings have been mixed about whether plant litter breakdown by stream decomposers is faster in locations where the litter originates from (i.e. home region) compared with other locations (away region). This phenomenon, known as home-field advantage (HFA), may be influenced by litter quality and particularly decomposer groups (shredders versus microbes), rather than being an inherent consequence of the breakdown of locally native litter. We studied the effects of HFA on litter breakdown and litter-associated communities in streams within mid- to late-successional forests. Two pairs of riparian broadleaf and one pair of conifer litter species with contrasting chemical quality were reciprocally incubated across two temperate regions (similar to 3,000 km apart). Species in each pair are congeneric and allopatric. The HFA was assessed using within-pair litter comparisons in home and away regions. Coarse- and fine-mesh litterbags were used to separate the contributions to litter breakdown by microbial decomposition and shredder feeding. Conifer litter species used in this study were more recalcitrant than broadleaf litter species. Consequently, there was a significant positive HFA for the microbial decomposition of conifer litter. In contrast, there was no HFA for either microbial or shredder-mediated breakdown of broadleaf litter, which might have been overridden by catchment-scale differences in biophysical variables affecting breakdown. The effects of HFA on shredder colonisation and feeding on broadleaf litter were more variable among streams. Numerically abundant shredder taxa tended to have higher rates of colonisation and consumption on higher-quality litter than on low-quality litter, irrespective of litter origin. Our results suggest that prior (evolutionary and/or contemporary) litter exposure could strongly influence the litter-processing capacity of microbial decomposers, but not shredders, at the community level. In particular, microbial decomposers specialised in degrading conifer litter probably had lower resource-use plasticity than those processing broadleaf litter. Inter-stream differences in riparian vegetation and habitat conditions could influence the HFA through altering the litter exposure history of decomposer communities. Our findings highlight the importance of prior litter-microbe interactions in determining the rates of microbial decomposition of native and exotic litter species.