Journal
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
Volume 15, Issue 5, Pages 1339-1355Publisher
WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2008.01781.x
Keywords
climate; LIDET; lignin; nitrogen; substrate quality; tropical
Funding
- National Science Foundation [DEB-9108329, 9806493, 0218039, 0219104]
- AES [7069-MS]
- DOE GCEP Graduate Research Environmental Fellowship
- LTER Network Office
- Kaye and Ward Richardson Endowment
- Harvard University, and NCEAS
- NSF [DEB-0072909]
- University of California at Santa Barbara
- Direct For Biological Sciences
- Division Of Environmental Biology [9806493, 0218039] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Division Of Behavioral and Cognitive Sci
- Direct For Social, Behav & Economic Scie [0219104] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Division Of Environmental Biology
- Direct For Biological Sciences [0823405, GRANTS:13728581] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Litter decomposition represents one of the largest annual fluxes of carbon (C) from terrestrial ecosystems, particularly for tropical forests, which are generally characterized by high net primary productivity and litter turnover. We used data from the Long-Term Intersite Decomposition Experiment (LIDET) to (1) determine the relative importance of climate and litter quality as predictors of decomposition rates, (2) compare patterns in root and leaf litter decomposition, (3) identify controls on net nitrogen (N) release during decay, and (4) compare LIDET rates with native species studies across five bioclimatically diverse neotropical forests. Leaf and root litter decomposed fastest in the lower montane rain and moist forests and slowest in the seasonally dry forest. The single best predictor of leaf litter decomposition was the climate decomposition index (CDI), explaining 51% of the variability across all sites. The strongest models for predicting leaf decomposition combined climate and litter chemistry, and included CDI and lignin (R(2)=0.69), or CDI, N and nonpolar extractives (R(2)=0.69). While we found no significant differences in decomposition rates between leaf and root litter, drivers of decomposition differed for the two tissue types. Initial stages of decomposition, determined as the time to 50% mass remaining, were driven primarily by precipitation for leaf litter (R(2)=0.93) and by temperature for root litter (R(2)=0.86). The rate of N release from leaf litter was positively correlated with initial N concentrations; net N immobilization increased with decreasing initial N concentrations. This study demonstrates that decomposition is sensitive to climate within and across tropical forests. Our results suggest that climate change and increasing N deposition in tropical forests are likely to result in significant changes to decomposition rates in this biome.
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