Lichens and bryophytes are abundant primary producers in high latitude and high elevation ecosystems, and they play an important role in ecosystem processes such as decomposition and nutrient cycling. Despite their importance, little is known about the decomposability of lichens and bryophytes either among or within species, at the whole community level, or how this decomposability is affected by their functional traits. Here, we studied decomposability of lichens and bryophytes at the community‐level and individual species‐level (using 21 species and genera) collected from an elevational gradient in alpine Norway. In order to isolate the elevation effect on litter quality, we used a standardized laboratory bioassay to measure decomposability. In contrast to our expectations, we found that community‐level decomposability of lichens and bryophytes increased with elevation and thus decreasing temperature. In contrast, phosphorus release from the litter decreased with elevation while nitrogen release was unresponsive. Decomposability was explained by nutrient concentrations, litter pH and primary producer group identity (lichens versus bryophytes) at both the individual species and community levels. Species turnover (changes in species composition and abundance) was the main driver of decomposability across elevation at the community level, despite some of the traits explaining decomposability showing high intraspecific variability. Our study highlights the importance of among‐species variation in determining lichen and bryophyte decomposability. Further, the higher decomposability that we found for higher elevations suggests that global warming might result in a shift towards slower decomposable lichen and bryophyte species.

中文翻译：

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标准化条件下跨越海拔梯度的地衣和苔藓植物的可分解性

地衣和苔藓植物是高纬度和高海拔生态系统中丰富的初级生产者，它们在生态系统过程（例如分解和养分循环）中发挥重要作用。尽管它们很重要，但对于整个社区范围内物种间或内部的地衣和苔藓植物的可分解性，或这种分解性如何受到其功能性状的影响，人们所知甚少。在这里，我们研究了从挪威高海拔地区的海拔梯度采集的社区水平和单个物种水平（使用21种和属）的地衣和苔藓植物的可分解性。为了隔离海拔对垃圾质量的影响，我们使用了标准化的实验室生物测定法来测量可分解性。与我们的期望相反，我们发现，地衣和苔藓植物在社区一级的可分解性随着海拔的升高而增加，从而降低了温度。相反，从垫料中释放的磷随着海拔的升高而降低，而氮的释放没有响应。可分解性是由单个物种和群落水平上的营养物浓度，垫料pH和主要生产者类别身份（地衣对苔藓植物）来解释的。尽管某些可解释可分解性的特征显示出较高的种内变异性，但物种更新（物种组成和丰度的变化）是群落水平上海拔高度分解的主要驱动力。我们的研究强调了物种间变异在确定地衣和苔藓植物可分解性中的重要性。进一步，