Positive Feedback on Climate Warming by Stream Microbial Decomposers Indicated by a Global Space-For-Time Substitution Study

Javier Pérez; Luz Boyero; Richard G Pearson; Mark O Gessner; Alan Tonin; Naiara López-Rojo; Juan Rubio-Ríos; Francisco Correa-Araneda; Alberto Alonso; Aydeé Cornejo; Ricardo J Albariño; Sankarappan Anbalagan; Leon A Barmuta; Andrew J Boulton; Francis J Burdon; Adriano Caliman; Marcos Callisto; Ian C Campbell; Bradley J Cardinale; Luciana S Carneiro; J Jesús Casas; Ana M Chará-Serna; Eric Chauvet; Checo Colón-Gaud; Aaron M Davis; Elvira de Eyto; Monika Degebrodt; María E Díaz; Michael M Douglas; Andrea C Encalada; Ricardo Figueroa; Alexander S Flecker; Tadeusz Fleituch; André Frainer; Erica A García; Gabriela García; Pavel E García; Paul S Giller; Jesús E Gómez; Jose F Gonçalves, Jr; Manuel A S Graça; Robert O Hall, Jr; Neusa Hamada; Luiz U Hepp; Cang Hui; Daichi Imazawa; Tomoya Iwata; Edson S A Junior; Andrea Landeira-Dabarca; María Leal; Kaisa Lehosmaa; Charles M M'Erimba; Richard Marchant; Renato T Martins; Frank O Masese; Megan Maul; Brendan G McKie; Adriana O Medeiros; Jen A Middleton; Timo Muotka; Junjiro N Negishi; Alonso Ramírez; Renan S Rezende; John S Richardson; José Rincón; Claudia Serrano; Angela R Shaffer; Fran Sheldon; Christopher M Swan; Nathalie S D Tenkiano; Scott D Tiegs; Janine R Tolod; Michael Vernasky; Elizabeth W Wanderi; Anne Watson; Catherine M Yule

doi:10.1111/gcb.70171

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Journal article

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Positive Feedback on Climate Warming by Stream Microbial Decomposers Indicated by a Global Space-For-Time Substitution Study

Javier Pérez, Luz Boyero, Richard G Pearson, Mark O Gessner, Alan Tonin, Naiara López-Rojo, Juan Rubio-Ríos, Francisco Correa-Araneda, Alberto Alonso, Aydeé Cornejo, …

Global Change Biology, Vol.31(4), pp.1-12

2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70171

PMID: 40186595

Abstract

Carbon Cycle

detritivores

global change

globally distributed study

litter quality

metabolic theory of ecology

microorganisms

plant litter decomposition

stream ecosystem functioning

temperature sensitivity

Decomposition of plant litter is a key ecological process in streams, whose contribution to the global carbon cycle is large relative to their extent on Earth. We examined the mechanisms underlying the temperature sensitivity (TS) of instream decomposition and forecast effects of climate warming on this process. Comparing data from 41 globally distributed sites, we assessed the TS of microbial and total decomposition using litter of nine plant species combined in six mixtures. Microbial decomposition conformed to the metabolic theory of ecology and its TS was consistently higher than that of total decomposition, which was higher than found previously. Litter quality influenced the difference between microbial and total decomposition, with total decomposition of more recalcitrant litter being more sensitive to temperature. Our projections suggest that (i) warming will enhance the microbial contribution to decomposition, increasing CO2 outgassing and intensifying the warming trend, especially in colder regions; and (ii) riparian species composition will have a major influence on this process.

Details

Title: Positive Feedback on Climate Warming by Stream Microbial Decomposers Indicated by a Global Space-For-Time Substitution Study
Authors: Javier Pérez (Corresponding Author) - University of the Basque Country
Luz Boyero (Corresponding Author) - University of the Basque Country
Richard G Pearson - James Cook University
Mark O Gessner - Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries
Alan Tonin - Universidade de Brasília
Naiara López-Rojo - Laboratoire d'Écologie Alpine
Juan Rubio-Ríos - University of Almería
Francisco Correa-Araneda - Universidad Autónoma de Chile
Alberto Alonso - University of the Basque Country
Aydeé Cornejo - Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud
Ricardo J Albariño - National University of Comahue
Sankarappan Anbalagan
Leon A Barmuta - University of Tasmania
Andrew J Boulton - University of New England
Francis J Burdon - Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Adriano Caliman - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte
Marcos Callisto - Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
Ian C Campbell
Bradley J Cardinale - Pennsylvania State University
Luciana S Carneiro - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte
J Jesús Casas - University of Almería
Ana M Chará-Serna - Centro para la Investigación en Sistemas Sostenibles de Producción Agropecuaria
Eric Chauvet - Université de Toulouse
Checo Colón-Gaud - Georgia Southern University
Aaron M Davis - James Cook University
Elvira de Eyto - Marine Institute
Monika Degebrodt - Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries
María E Díaz - University of Concepción
Michael M Douglas - The University of Western Australia
Andrea C Encalada - Universidad San Francisco de Quito
Ricardo Figueroa - University of Concepción
Alexander S Flecker - Cornell University
Tadeusz Fleituch - Institute of Nature Conservation
André Frainer - UiT The Arctic University of Norway
Erica A García - Charles Darwin University
Gabriela García - Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud
Pavel E García - Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala
Paul S Giller - University College Cork
Jesús E Gómez - University of Puerto Rico System
Jose F Gonçalves, Jr - Universidade de Brasília
Manuel A S Graça - University of Coimbra
Robert O Hall, Jr - University of Montana
Neusa Hamada - Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia
Luiz U Hepp - Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul
Cang Hui - Stellenbosch University
Daichi Imazawa - University of Yamanashi
Tomoya Iwata - University of Yamanashi
Edson S A Junior - Universidade Federal da Bahia
Andrea Landeira-Dabarca - University of Coimbra
María Leal - Universidad del Zulia
Kaisa Lehosmaa - University of Oulu
Charles M M'Erimba - Egerton University
Richard Marchant - Museums Victoria
Renato T Martins - Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia
Frank O Masese - University of Eldoret
Megan Maul - Pennsylvania State University
Brendan G McKie - Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Adriana O Medeiros - Universidade Federal da Bahia
Jen A Middleton - The University of Western Australia
Timo Muotka - University of Oulu
Junjiro N Negishi - Hokkaido University
Alonso Ramírez - North Carolina State University
Renan S Rezende - Program of Postgraduate in Environmental Science, Communitarian University of Chapecó Region, Chapecó, Brazil
John S Richardson - University of British Columbia
José Rincón - Universidad del Zulia
Claudia Serrano
Angela R Shaffer - Georgia Southern University
Fran Sheldon - Griffith University
Christopher M Swan - University of Maryland, Baltimore
Nathalie S D Tenkiano - Julius Nyerere University of Kankan
Scott D Tiegs - Oakland University
Janine R Tolod - Hokkaido University
Michael Vernasky - Griffith University
Elizabeth W Wanderi - University of Eldoret
Anne Watson - University of Tasmania
Catherine M Yule - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and Engineering
Publication details: Global Change Biology, Vol.31(4), pp.1-12
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Date published: 2025
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.70171
ISSN: 1365-2486
PMID: 40186595
Data Availability: The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Grant note: This study was part of the DecoDiv project conducted by the GLoBE network (www.globenetwork.es), which is coordinated by L.B. Field work was based on crowdfunding (see Boyero et al., https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abe7860 for details). Project coordination was funded by Basque Government funds (refs. IT951-16 to Jesús Pozo and IT1471-22 to L.B.). J.P. was supported by UAL—HIPATIA contract. Litter trait analyses were funded by the 2014–2020 Operational Programme FEDER Andalusia, Spain (ref. UAL18-RNM-B006-B to J.J.C.) and the Portuguese Science Foundation, Portugal (ref. UIDB/04292/2020 to M.A.S.G.).
Organisation Unit: School of Science, Technology and Engineering
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991119448402621
Output Type: Journal article

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