Journal article
Reading tea leaves worldwide: Decoupled drivers of initial litter decomposition mass-loss rate and stabilization
Ecology Letters, Vol.27(5), pp.1-14
2024
PMID: 38712683
Abstract
The breakdown of plant material fuels soil functioning and biodiversity. Currently, process understanding of global decomposition patterns and the drivers of such patterns are hampered by the lack of coherent large-scale datasets. We buried 36,000 individual litterbags (tea bags) worldwide and found an overall negative correlation between initial mass-loss rates and stabilization factors of plant-derived carbon, using the Tea Bag Index (TBI). The stabilization factor quantifies the degree to which easy-to-degrade components accumulate during early-stage decomposition (e.g. by environmental limitations). However, agriculture and an interaction between moisture and temperature led to a decoupling between initial mass-loss rates and stabilization, notably in colder locations. Using TBI improved mass-loss estimates of natural litter compared to models that ignored stabilization. Ignoring the transformation of dead plant material to more recalcitrant substances during early-stage decomposition, and the environmental control of this transformation, could overestimate carbon losses during early decomposition in carbon cycle models.
Details
- Title
- Reading tea leaves worldwide: Decoupled drivers of initial litter decomposition mass-loss rate and stabilization
- Authors
- Judith M Sarneel (Corresponding Author) - Umeå UniversityMariet M Hefting - Utrecht UniversityTaru Sandén - Austrian Agency for Health and Food SafetyJohan van den Hoogen - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in ZurichDevin Routh - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in ZurichBhupendra S Adhikari - Wildlife Institute of IndiaJuha M Alatalo - Qatar UniversityAlla Aleksanyan - Institute of BotanyInge H J Althuizen - NORCE Research ASMohammed H S A Alsafran - Qatar UniversityJeff W Atkins - Southern Research StationLaurent Augusto - École Nationale Supérieure des Sciences Agronomiques de Bordeaux-AquitaineMika Aurela - Finnish Meteorological InstituteAleksej V Azarov - Belgorod Federal Agrarain Scientific Center, Belgorod, RussiaIsabel C Barrio - Agricultural University of IcelandClaus Beier - University of CopenhagenMaría D Bejarano - Universidad Politécnica de MadridSue E Benham - Forest ResearchBjörn Berg - University of HelsinkiNadezhda V Bezler - Mazlumov All-Russian Institute of Sugar and Sugar BeetKatrín Björnsdóttir - University of GothenburgMartin A Bolinder - Swedish University of Agricultural SciencesMichele Carbognani - University of ParmaRoberto Cazzolla Gatti - University of BolognaStefano Chelli - Università di CamerinoMaxim V Chistotin - All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Agrochemistry named after D.N. PryanishnikovaCasper T Christiansen - University of CopenhagenPascal Courtois - AgroParisTechThomas W Crowther - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in ZurichMichele S Dechoum - Universidade Federal de Santa CatarinaIka Djukic - Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape ResearchSarah Duddigan - University of ReadingLouise M Egerton-Warburton - Chicago Botanic GardenNicolas Fanin - Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'EnvironnementMaria Fantappiè - Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agrariaSilvano Fares - Istituto per il Sistema Produzione Animale in Ambiente MediterraneoGeraldo W Fernandes - Universidade Federal de Minas GeraisNina V Filippova - Yugra State UniversityAndreas Fliessbach - Research Institute of Organic AgricultureDavid FuentesRoberto Godoy - Austral University of ChileThomas Grünwald - Technische Universität DresdenGema Guzmán - Andalusian Institute of Agricultural and Fisheries Research and TrainingJoseph E Hawes - Anglia Ruskin UniversityYue He - International Institute for Applied Systems AnalysisJean-Marc Hero - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and EngineeringLaura L Hess - University of California, Santa BarbaraKatja Hogendoorn - The University of AdelaideToke T Høye - Aarhus UniversityWilma W P Jans - Wageningen University & ResearchIngibjörg S Jónsdóttir - University of IcelandSabina Keller - ETH ZurichSebastian Kepfer-Rojas - University of CopenhagenNatalya N Kuz'menko - Research Institute of Synthetic Fiber with the Pilot PlantKlaus S Larsen - University of CopenhagenHjalmar Laudon - Swedish University of Agricultural SciencesJonas J Lembrechts - University of AntwerpJunhui Li - Northern Arizona UniversityJean-Marc Limousin - Université de MontpellierSergey M Lukin - Kursk Federal Agrarian Scientific CenterRenato Marques - Universidade Federal do ParanáCésar Marín - Universidad Santo TomásMarshall D McDaniel - Iowa State UniversityQi Meek - University of AlbertaGenrietta E Merzlaya - All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Agrochemistry named after D.N. PryanishnikovaAnders Michelsen - University of CopenhagenLeonardo Montagnani - Ospedale di BolzanoPeter Mueller - Smithsonian Environmental Research CenterRajasekaran Murugan - University of KasselIsla H Myers-Smith - University of EdinburghStefanie Nolte - Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture ScienceRaúl Ochoa-Hueso - Universidad de CádizBernard N Okafor - National Horticultural Research InstituteVladimir V Okorkov - Kursk Federal Agrarian Scientific CenterVladimir G Onipchenko - Lomonosov Moscow State UniversityMaría C Orozco - Universidad de Los AndesTina Parkhurst - Murdoch UniversityCarlos A Peres - University of East AngliaMatteo Petit Bon - Utah State UniversityAlessandro Petraglia - University of ParmaMartin Pingel - Hochschule Geisenheim UniversityCorinna Rebmann - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental ResearchBrett R Scheffers - University of FloridaInger Schmidt - University of CopenhagenMary C Scholes - University of the WitwatersrandEfrat Sheffer - Hebrew University of JerusalemLyudmila K Shevtsova - All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Agrochemistry named after D.N. PryanishnikovaStuart W Smith - Norwegian University of Science and TechnologyAdriano Sofo - University of BasilicataPablo R Stevenson - Universidad de Los AndesBarbora Strouhalová - Charles UniversityAnders Sundsdal - Norwegian University of Science and TechnologyRafael B Sühs - Universidade Federal de Santa CatarinaGebretsadik Tamene - University of GondarHaydn J D Thomas - University of East AngliaDuygu Tolunay - Utrecht UniversityMarcello Tomaselli - University of ParmaSimon Tresch - Institute for Applied Plant Biology (Switzerland)Dominique L Tucker - Case Western Reserve UniversityMichael D Ulyshen - Southern Research StationAlejandro Valdecantos - University of AlicanteVigdis Vandvik - Bjerknes Centre for Climate ResearchElena I Vanguelova - Forest ResearchKris Verheyen - Ghent UniversityXuhui Wang - Peking UniversityLaura Yahdjian - Universidad de Buenos AiresXaris S Yumashev - Chelyabinsk Agricultural Institute, Chelyabinsk, RussiaJoost A Keuskamp - Utrecht University
- Publication details
- Ecology Letters, Vol.27(5), pp.1-14
- Publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
- Date published
- 2024
- DOI
- 10.1111/ele.14415
- ISSN
- 1461-0248
- PMID
- 38712683
- Copyright note
- © 2024 The Authors. Ecology Letters published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991023098502621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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