Abstract
Background and aims
Plant litter decomposition is a crucial pathway of the global carbon (C) cycle, and controls the net primary productivity in terrestrial ecosystems. Our understanding of litter decomposition is primarily based on decay patterns observed for leaf litter tissues. The distal shoot systems (leaves and the first few orders of twigs) vary vastly in function and tissue chemistry and both decomposition patterns and controlling factors of these multi-type litter complexes are poorly understood.
Methods
We followed decomposition of leaf litter and the first three orders of twigs across 10 temperate tree species over 2 years in Northeast China.
Results
Eight species showed slower decomposition rates in twigs than leaf litter, and almost all species showed that decomposition rates decrease from first- to third-order twigs. The decomposition of twigs and leaf litter in 10 tree species were not coordinated. Most importantly, in contrast to leaf litter, the variation in twigs decomposition cannot be predicted by the commonly used parameters like N contents, but is predicted by initial concentrations of Mg and cellulose plus lignin/P ratio in twig tissues.
Conclusions
We conclude that there were significant differences in decomposition rates among the tree distal shoot systems. Leaf litter decomposition does not mirror twigs decomposition, and variation in their decomposition rates was driven by two different subset of litter traits, at least in the ten species we studied. Additionally, the heterogeneity within the tree distal shoot systems could lead to differences in their contribution to soil in term of carbon dynamics.
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Data availability
The datasets generated during and nalysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Hongguang Zhang, Yu Zhu, Rong Zhao and Fuqiang Long for assistance in the field and laboratory. Thanks to Siyuan Wang for constructive comments on earlier drafts of the manuscript.
Funding
The funding for this research was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2020YFA0608100 and 2022YFD2201300), National Natural Science Foundation of China (32022054 and 32192432), International Partnership Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (151221KYSB20210005), Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences of Chinese Academy of Sciences (ZDBS-LY-DQC019), and the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDA28120100).
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Weiping Gu performed the data analysis and wrote the manuscript; Björn Berg performed specifically critical review, commentary and revision; Lili Dong performed the design of methodology; Fengjian Yang performed the oversight and leadership responsibility for the research activity planning and execution; Tao Sun Provided the financial support for the project leading to this publication.
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Gu, W., Berg, B., Dong, L. et al. Patterns and controlling factors of decomposition in distal shoot systems by branch order across 10 temperate tree species. Plant Soil (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-024-06590-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-024-06590-1