Litterfall and litter decomposition are key elements of nutrient cycling in tropical forests, a process in which decomposer communities such as macro‐arthropods play a critical role. Understanding the rate and extent to which ecosystem function and biodiversity recover during succession is useful to managing the growing area of tropical successional forest globally. Using a replicated chronosequence of forest succession (5–15, 15–30, 30–45 years, and primary forest) on abandoned pastures in lowland tropical wet forest, we examined litterfall, litter chemistry, and effects of macro‐arthropod exclusion on decomposition of two litter types (primary and 5‐ to 15‐years‐old secondary forest). Further, we assessed macro‐arthropod diversity and community composition across the chronosequence. Overstory cover, litterfall, and litter nutrients reached levels similar to primary forest within 15–30 years. Young secondary forest litter (5–15 years) had lower initial N and P content, higher C:N, and decayed 60 percent faster than primary forest litter. The presence of macro‐arthropods strongly mediated decomposition and nutrient release rates, increasing litter mass loss by 35–44 percent, N released by 53 percent, and P release by 84 percent. Forest age had no effect on soil nutrients, rates of litter decomposition, nutrient release, or macro‐arthropod influence. In contrast, abundance and community composition of macro‐arthropods remained significantly lower and distinct in all ages of secondary compared with primary forest. Order richness was lower in 5–15 years of secondary compared with primary forest. Our results suggest that in highly productive tropical wet forest, functional recovery of litter dynamics precedes recovery of decomposer community structure and biodiversity.

中文翻译：

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热带森林演替过程中凋落物动态恢复速度快于节肢动物生物多样性

凋落物和凋落物的分解是热带森林养分循环的关键要素，在这一过程中，大型节肢动物等分解动物群落起着至关重要的作用。了解演替过程中生态系统功能和生物多样性恢复的速率和程度，对于管理全球热带演替森林的增长区域非常有用。在低地热带湿润森林的废弃草场上，使用森林演替（5-15、15-30、30-45年和原始森林）的复制时序序列，我们研究了凋落物，凋落物化学以及宏观节肢动物排除对分解的影响两种凋落物类型（主要和5至15岁的次生林）。此外，我们在整个时间序列上评估了人类节肢动物的多样性和群落组成。地上覆盖物，凋落物，15-30年之内，凋落物的养分达到了与原始森林相似的水平。年轻的次生森林凋落物（5至15年）的初始N和P含量较低，C：N较高，并且其腐烂速度比主要森林凋落物快60％。大型节肢动物的存在强烈地介导了分解和养分释放速率，使凋落物质量损失增加了35-44％，氮释放了53％，磷释放了84％。森林年龄对土壤养分，凋落物分解速率，养分释放或宏观节肢动物的影响没有影响。相比之下，与原始森林相比，在次生的所有年龄段，大型节肢动物的丰度和群落组成均显着较低，且各不相同。与原始森林相比，次生林的丰富度在5-15年内较低。