Litter decomposition: what controls it and how can we alter it to sequester more carbon in forest soils?
@article{Prescott2010LitterDW, title={Litter decomposition: what controls it and how can we alter it to sequester more carbon in forest soils?}, author={Cindy E. Prescott}, journal={Biogeochemistry}, year={2010}, volume={101}, pages={133-149} }
Key recent developments in litter decomposition research are reviewed. Long-term inter-site experiments indicate that temperature and moisture influence early rates of litter decomposition primarily by determining the plants present, suggesting that climate change effects will be small unless they alter the plant forms present. Thresholds may exist at which single factors control decay rate. Litter decomposes faster where the litter type naturally occurs. Elevated CO2 concentrations have little…
707 Citations
Microbial inputs at the litter layer translate climate into altered organic matter properties
- Environmental ScienceGlobal change biology
- 2020
The role that microbial inputs during early litter decomposition can play in shaping surface litter contribution to soil organic matter as it responds to climate warming effects such as greater nitrogen availability is highlighted.
Decomposition and transformations along the continuum from litter to soil organic matter in forest soils
- Environmental Science
- 2021
Labile compounds in plant litter reduce the sensitivity of decomposition to warming and altered precipitation.
- Environmental ScienceThe New phytologist
- 2013
The finding that labile compounds in litter reduce the climate sensitivity of mass loss and the decomposition of recalcitrant matrix is novel and highlights the potential for litter quality to regulate the effect of climatic changes on the sequestration of litter-derived carbon.
The Path From Litter to Soil: Insights Into Soil C Cycling From Long‐Term Input Manipulation and High‐Resolution Mass Spectrometry
- Environmental Science
- 2018
The path of carbon (C) from plant litter to soil organic matter (SOM) is key to understanding how soil C stocks and microbial decomposition will respond to climate change and whether soil C sinks can…
Modeling the effects of litter stoichiometry and soil mineral N availability on soil organic matter formation using CENTURY-CUE (v1.0)
- Environmental ScienceGeoscientific Model Development
- 2018
Abstract. Microbial decomposition of plant litter is a crucial process for the land
carbon (C) cycle, as it directly controls the partitioning of litter C
between CO2 released to the atmosphere…
Twenty years of litter manipulation reveals that above-ground litter quantity and quality controls soil organic matter molecular composition
- Biogeochemistry
- 2022
Global environmental change is altering the quality and quantity of plant inputs into soil. However, it is unclear how these long-term changes may fundamentally shift the biogeochemistry of soil…
Field and lab conditions alter microbial enzyme and biomass dynamics driving decomposition of the same leaf litter
- Environmental ScienceFront. Microbiol.
- 2013
Differences in microbial biomass and enzyme dynamics alter the decay trajectory of the same leaf litter under field and lab conditions are suggested to provide mechanistic insights to decomposition processes.
Influence of Substrate Quality and Moisture Availability on Microbial Communities and Litter Decomposition
- Environmental Science
- 2014
The main source of
carbon (C) to soil stocks is plant litter, the decomposition of which is controlled
by a mixture of physical, chemical, and biological processes. Bacteria and
fungi are the…
Fungal Community Composition as Affected by Litter Chemistry and Weather during Four Years of Litter Decomposition in Rainshadow Coastal Douglas-Fir Forests
- Environmental ScienceJournal of fungi
- 2022
Climate and litter chemistry are major factors influencing litter decay, a process mediated by microbes, such as fungi, nitrogen-fixing bacteria and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria. Increasing atmospheric…
References
SHOWING 1-10 OF 82 REFERENCES
Soil biota accelerate decomposition in high‐elevation forests by specializing in the breakdown of litter produced by the plant species above them
- Environmental Science
- 2009
1 There is mounting evidence that leaf litter typically decomposes more rapidly beneath the plant species it derived from than beneath the different plant species, which has been called home‐field…
Effect of N deposition on decomposition of plant litter and soil organic matter in forest systems
- Environmental Science
- 1997
Initial decomposition is generally higher for N (nutrient) rich plant litters than for litters with a lower N (Nutrient) content, and in later stages, at which lignin-degradation rates regulate litter decomposi...
Influence of initial chemistry on decomposition of foliar litter in contrasting forest types in British Columbia
- Environmental Science
- 2004
We compare rates of decay of foliar litters of British Columbia tree species in two field studies, and assess which initial litter chemistry parameters best predict the decay rates. Nutrient…
Interactions between soil and tree roots accelerate long-term soil carbon decomposition.
- Environmental Science, MedicineEcology letters
- 2007
Experimental evidence is provided for a rhizosphere priming effect, in which interactions between soil and tree roots substantially accelerate SOC decomposition in a 395-day greenhouse study with Ponderosa pine and Fremont cottonwood trees grown in three different soils.
Decomposition in tropical forests: a pan‐tropical study of the effects of litter type, litter placement and mesofaunal exclusion across a precipitation gradient
- Environmental Science
- 2009
1 Litter decomposition recycles nutrients and causes large fluxes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. It is typically assumed that climate, litter quality and decomposer communities determine…
Leaf traits capture the effects of land use changes and climate on litter decomposability of grasslands across Europe.
- Environmental ScienceEcology
- 2009
LDMC appears as a powerful marker of both changes in land use and of the pace of nutrient cycling across 10 contrasting sites, with particularly clear negative correlations with lignin-dependent indices (lignin:nitrogen ratio, and fiber component).
Combining theory and experiment to understand effects of inorganic nitrogen on litter decomposition
- MedicineOecologia
- 2001
Altered utilization patterns of young and old soil C by microorganisms caused by temperature shifts and N additions
- Environmental Science
- 2004
To determine if changes in microbial community composition and metabolic capacity alter decomposition patterns of young and old soil carbon pools, we incubated soils under conditions of varying…
Litter quality is in the eye of the beholder: initial decomposition rates as a function of inoculum characteristics
- Environmental Science
- 2009
The results suggest that litter quality cannot necessarily be predicted solely from chemical characteristics; instead the perceived quality is dependent on the quality of past resource inputs a community has experienced and the structure of those microbial communities responsible for the initial stages of litter decomposition.