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Desie E, Zuo J, Verheyen K, Djukic I, Van Meerbeek K, Auge H, Barsoum N, Baum C, Bruelheide H, Eisenhauer N, Feldhaar H, Ferlian O, Gravel D, Jactel H, Schmidt IK, Kepfer-Rojas S, Meredieu C, Mereu S, Messier C, Morillas L, Nock C, Paquette A, Ponette Q, Reich PB, Roales J, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Seitz S, Schmidt A, Stefanski A, Trogisch S, Halder IV, Weih M, Williams LJ, Yang B, Muys B. Disentangling drivers of litter decomposition in a multi-continent network of tree diversity experiments. Sci Total Environ 2023; 857:159717. [PMID: 36302436 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159717] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2022] [Revised: 10/19/2022] [Accepted: 10/21/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Litter decomposition is a key ecosystem function in forests and varies in response to a range of climatic, edaphic, and local stand characteristics. Disentangling the relative contribution of these factors is challenging, especially along large environmental gradients. In particular, knowledge of the effect of management options, such as tree planting density and species composition, on litter decomposition would be highly valuable in forestry. In this study, we made use of 15 tree diversity experiments spread over eight countries and three continents within the global TreeDivNet network. We evaluated the effects of overstory composition (tree identity, species/mixture composition and species richness), plantation conditions (density and age), and climate (temperature and precipitation) on mass loss (after 3 months and 1 year) of two standardized litters: high-quality green tea and low-quality rooibos tea. Across continents, we found that early-stage decomposition of the low-quality rooibos tea was influenced locally by overstory tree identity. Mass loss of rooibos litter was higher under young gymnosperm overstories compared to angiosperm overstories, but this trend reversed with age of the experiment. Tree species richness did not influence decomposition and explained almost no variation in our multi-continent dataset. Hence, in the young plantations of our study, overstory composition effects on decomposition were mainly driven by tree species identity on decomposer communities and forest microclimates. After 12 months of incubation, mass loss of the high-quality green tea litter was mainly influenced by temperature whereas the low-quality rooibos tea litter decomposition showed stronger relationships with overstory composition and stand age. Our findings highlight that decomposition dynamics are not only affected by climate but also by management options, via litter quality of the identity of planted trees but also by overstory composition and structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ellen Desie
- Division of Forest, Nature and Landscape, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E - box 2411, 3001 Leuven, Belgium; KU Leuven Plant Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
| | - Juan Zuo
- Division of Forest, Nature and Landscape, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E - box 2411, 3001 Leuven, Belgium; Key Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430074, China; Center of Plant Ecology, Core Botanical Gardens, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430074, China
| | - Kris Verheyen
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University; Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090 Melle, Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Ika Djukic
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903 Birmensdorf, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Koenraad Van Meerbeek
- Division of Forest, Nature and Landscape, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E - box 2411, 3001 Leuven, Belgium; KU Leuven Plant Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Harald Auge
- Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Theodor-Lieser-Strasse 4, 06120 Halle, Germany; German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstrasse 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Nadia Barsoum
- Forest Research, Alice Holt Lodge, Farnham, Surrey GU10 4LH, UK
| | - Christel Baum
- Soil Science, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Rostock, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 6, D-18059 Rostock, Germany
| | - Helge Bruelheide
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstrasse 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Institute of Biology, Geobotany and Botanical Garden, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany
| | - Nico Eisenhauer
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstrasse 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Leipzig University, Institute of Biology, Puschstrasse 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Heike Feldhaar
- Animal Ecology I, Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research (BayCEER), University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstrasse 30, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Olga Ferlian
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstrasse 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Leipzig University, Institute of Biology, Puschstrasse 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Dominique Gravel
- Département de Biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
| | - Hervé Jactel
- INRAE, Université Bordeaux, Biogeco, F-33612 Cestas, France
| | - Inger Kappel Schmidt
- Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 23, 1958 Frederiksberg, Denmark
| | - Sebastian Kepfer-Rojas
- Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 23, 1958 Frederiksberg, Denmark
| | | | - Simone Mereu
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto per la BioEconomia, CNR-IBE, Traversa la Crucca 3, 07100, Sassari, Italy
| | - Christian Messier
- Département des sciences naturelles and Institut des sciences de la forêt tempérée (ISFORT), Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO), 58 rue Principale, Ripon, QC J0V 1V0, Canada
| | - Lourdes Morillas
- Departamento de Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Universidad de Sevilla, Av. Reina Mercedes 10, E-41080 Sevilla, Spain
| | - Charles Nock
- Department of Renewables Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Alain Paquette
- Centre for Forest Research, Département de Sciences Biologiques, Université du Québec à Montréal, Case postale 8888, succursale Centre-Ville, Montréal, QC H3C 3P8, Canada
| | - Quentin Ponette
- Earth & Life Institute, UCLouvain - Université catholique de Louvain, Croix du Sud 2, box L7.05.24, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Peter B Reich
- Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN 55108, USA; Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, New South Wales, 2753, Australia; Institute for Global Change Biology, School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Javier Roales
- Departamento de Sistemas Físicos, Químicos y Naturales, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Ctra. Utrera Km 1, 41013 Seville, Spain
| | - Michael Scherer-Lorenzen
- Geobotany, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Schänzlestrasse 1, 79104 Freiburg, Germany
| | - Steffen Seitz
- Universität Tübingen, Institute of Geography, Department of Geosciences, Rümelinstrasse 19-23, 72070 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Anja Schmidt
- Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Theodor-Lieser-Strasse 4, 06120 Halle, Germany
| | - Artur Stefanski
- Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - Stefan Trogisch
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstrasse 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Institute of Biology, Geobotany and Botanical Garden, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany
| | | | - Martin Weih
- Department of Crop Production Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Laura J Williams
- Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN 55108, USA; Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, New South Wales, 2753, Australia
| | - Bo Yang
- Jiangxi Key Laboratory of Plant Resources and Biodiversity, Jingdezhen University, Jingdezhen, 333400, China
| | - Bart Muys
- Division of Forest, Nature and Landscape, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E - box 2411, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.
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Jing X, Muys B, Baeten L, Bruelheide H, De Wandeler H, Desie E, Hättenschwiler S, Jactel H, Jaroszewicz B, Jucker T, Kardol P, Pollastrini M, Ratcliffe S, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Selvi F, Vancampenhout K, van der Plas F, Verheyen K, Vesterdal L, Zuo J, Van Meerbeek K. Climatic conditions, not above- and belowground resource availability and uptake capacity, mediate tree diversity effects on productivity and stability. Sci Total Environ 2022; 812:152560. [PMID: 34952080 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152560] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2021] [Revised: 11/26/2021] [Accepted: 12/16/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Tree species diversity promotes multiple ecosystem functions and services. However, little is known about how above- and belowground resource availability (light, nutrients, and water) and resource uptake capacity mediate tree species diversity effects on aboveground wood productivity and temporal stability of productivity in European forests and whether the effects differ between humid and arid regions. We used the data from six major European forest types along a latitudinal gradient to address those two questions. We found that neither leaf area index (a proxy for light uptake capacity), nor fine root biomass (a proxy for soil nutrient and water uptake capacity) was related to tree species richness. Leaf area index did, however, enhance productivity, but negatively affected stability. Productivity was further promoted by soil nutrient availability, while stability was enhanced by fine root biomass. We only found a positive effect of tree species richness on productivity in arid regions and a positive effect on stability in humid regions. This indicates a possible disconnection between productivity and stability regarding tree species richness effects. In other words, the mechanisms that drive the positive effects of tree species richness on productivity do not per se benefit stability simultaneously. Our findings therefore suggest that tree species richness effects are largely mediated by differences in climatic conditions rather than by differences in above- and belowground resource availability and uptake capacity at the regional scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin Jing
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Bart Muys
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.
| | - Lander Baeten
- Forest & Nature Lab, Campus Gontrode, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, BE-9090 Melle-Gontrode, Belgium.
| | - Helge Bruelheide
- Institute of Biology / Geobotany and Botanical Garden, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Am Kirchtor 1, 06108 Halle (Saale), Germany; German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Hans De Wandeler
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Ellen Desie
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.
| | - Stephan Hättenschwiler
- CEFE, University of Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Univ. Paul-Valéry Montpellier, Montpellier, France.
| | - Hervé Jactel
- INRAE, University of Bordeaux, BIOGECO, F-33610 Cestas, France.
| | - Bogdan Jaroszewicz
- Białowieża Geobotanical Station, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Sportowa 19, 17-230 Białowieża, Poland.
| | - Tommaso Jucker
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
| | - Paul Kardol
- Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Skogsmarksgränd, 901 83 Umeå, Sweden.
| | - Martina Pollastrini
- University of Firenze, Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry, Firenze, Italy.
| | | | - Michael Scherer-Lorenzen
- Geobotany, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Schaenzlestr. 1, 79104 Freiburg, Germany.
| | - Federico Selvi
- University of Firenze, Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry, Firenze, Italy.
| | - Karen Vancampenhout
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.
| | - Fons van der Plas
- Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation Group, Wageningen University, PO Box 47, 6700, AA Wageningen, the Netherlands; Systematic Botany and Functional Biodiversity, Life science, Leipzig University, Germany
| | - Kris Verheyen
- Forest & Nature Lab, Campus Gontrode, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, BE-9090 Melle-Gontrode, Belgium.
| | - Lars Vesterdal
- Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 23, DK-1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark.
| | - Juan Zuo
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Leuven, Belgium; Key Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430074, China
| | - Koenraad Van Meerbeek
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.
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Desie E, Vancampenhout K, Nyssen B, van den Berg L, Weijters M, van Duinen GJ, den Ouden J, Van Meerbeek K, Muys B. Litter quality and the law of the most limiting: Opportunities for restoring nutrient cycles in acidified forest soils. Sci Total Environ 2020; 699:134383. [PMID: 31525545 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134383] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2019] [Revised: 09/07/2019] [Accepted: 09/08/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The adverse effects of soil acidification are extensive and may result in hampered ecosystem functioning. Admixture of tree species with nutrient rich litter has been proposed to restore acidified forest soils and improve forest vitality, productivity and resilience. However, it is common belief that litter effects are insufficiently functional for restoration of poorly buffered sandy soils. Therefore we examined the effect of leaf litter on the forest floor, soil chemistry and soil biota in temperate forest stands along a range of sandy soil types in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. Specifically, we address: i) Which tree litter properties contribute most to the mitigation of soil acidification effects and ii) Do rich litter species have the potential to improve the belowground nutrient status of poorly buffered, sandy soils? Our analysis using structural equation modelling shows that litter base cation concentration is the decisive trait for the dominating soil buffering mechanism in forests that are heavily influenced by atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition. This is in contrast with studies in which leaf litter quality is summarized by C/N ratio. We suggest that the concept of rich litter is context dependent and should consider Liebig's law of the most limiting: if N is not limiting in the ecosystem, litter C/N becomes of low importance, while base cations (calcium, magnesium, potassium) become determining. We further find that on poorly buffered soils, tree species with rich litter induce fast nutrient cycling, sustain higher earthworm biomass and keep topsoil base saturation above a threshold of 30%. Hence, rich litter can trigger a regime shift to the exchange buffer domain in sandy soils. This highlights that admixing tree species with litter rich in base cations is a promising measure to remediate soil properties on acidified sandy soils that receive, or have received, high inputs of N via deposition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ellen Desie
- Division Forest, Nature and Landscape, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, Box 2411, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium.
| | - Karen Vancampenhout
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven Campus Geel, Kleinhoefstraat 4, B-2240 Geel, Belgium
| | - Bart Nyssen
- Division Forest, Nature and Landscape, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, Box 2411, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium; Bosgroep Zuid-Nederland, Huisvenseweg 14, 5591 VD Heeze, the Netherlands
| | - Leon van den Berg
- Bosgroep Zuid-Nederland, Huisvenseweg 14, 5591 VD Heeze, the Netherlands; Aquatic Ecology & Environmental Biology, Radboud University Nijmegen, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Maaike Weijters
- B-WARE Research Centre, Radboud University Nijmegen, Toernooiveld 1, 6525 ED Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | | | - Jan den Ouden
- Forest Ecology and Management Group, Wageningen University, P.O. box 47, Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | - Koenraad Van Meerbeek
- Division Forest, Nature and Landscape, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, Box 2411, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Bart Muys
- Division Forest, Nature and Landscape, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, Box 2411, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium.
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