Plant species traits are the predominant control on litter decomposition rates within biomes worldwide

William K. Cornwell; Johannes H.C. Cornelissen; Kathryn Amatangelo; Ellen Dorrepaal; Valerie T. Eviner; Oscar Godoy; Sarah E. Hobbie; Bart Hoorens; Hiroko Kurokawa; Natalia Pérez-Harguindeguy; Helen M. Quested; Louis S. Santiago; David A. Wardle; Ian J. Wright; Rien Aerts; Steven D. Allison; Peter Van Bodegom; Victor Brovkin; Alex Chatain; Terry V. Callaghan; Sandra Díaz; Eric Garnier; Diego E. Gurvich; Elena Kazakou; Julia A. Klein; Jenny Read; Peter B. Reich; Nadejda A. Soudzilovskaia; M. Victoria Vaieretti; Mark Westoby

doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01219.x

Plant species traits are the predominant control on litter decomposition rates within biomes worldwide

William K. Cornwell, Johannes H.C. Cornelissen, Kathryn Amatangelo, Ellen Dorrepaal, Valerie T. Eviner, Oscar Godoy, Sarah E. Hobbie, Bart Hoorens, Hiroko Kurokawa, Natalia Pérez-Harguindeguy, Helen M. Quested, Louis S. Santiago, David A. Wardle, Ian J. Wright, Rien Aerts, Steven D. Allison, Peter Van Bodegom, Victor Brovkin, Alex Chatain, Terry V. CallaghanSandra Díaz, Eric Garnier, Diego E. Gurvich, Elena Kazakou, Julia A. Klein, Jenny Read, Peter B. Reich, Nadejda A. Soudzilovskaia, M. Victoria Vaieretti, Mark Westoby

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1541 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Worldwide decomposition rates depend both on climate and the legacy of plant functional traits as litter quality. To quantify the degree to which functional differentiation among species affects their litter decomposition rates, we brought together leaf trait and litter mass loss data for 818 species from 66 decomposition experiments on six continents. We show that: (i) the magnitude of species-driven differences is much larger than previously thought and greater than climate-driven variation; (ii) the decomposability of a species' litter is consistently correlated with that species' ecological strategy within different ecosystems globally, representing a new connection between whole plant carbon strategy and biogeochemical cycling. This connection between plant strategies and decomposability is crucial for both understanding vegetation-soil feedbacks, and for improving forecasts of the global carbon cycle.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1065-1071
Number of pages	7
Journal	Ecology Letters
Volume	11
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01219.x
Publication status	Published - 2008 Oct
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Carbon cycling
Decomposition
Leaf economic spectrum
Leaf traits
Meta-analysis

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01219.x

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Cornwell, W. K., Cornelissen, J. H. C., Amatangelo, K., Dorrepaal, E., Eviner, V. T., Godoy, O., Hobbie, S. E., Hoorens, B., Kurokawa, H., Pérez-Harguindeguy, N., Quested, H. M., Santiago, L. S., Wardle, D. A., Wright, I. J., Aerts, R., Allison, S. D., Van Bodegom, P., Brovkin, V., Chatain, A., ... Westoby, M. (2008). Plant species traits are the predominant control on litter decomposition rates within biomes worldwide. Ecology Letters, 11(10), 1065-1071. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01219.x

Cornwell, WK, Cornelissen, JHC, Amatangelo, K, Dorrepaal, E, Eviner, VT, Godoy, O, Hobbie, SE, Hoorens, B, Kurokawa, H, Pérez-Harguindeguy, N, Quested, HM, Santiago, LS, Wardle, DA, Wright, IJ, Aerts, R, Allison, SD, Van Bodegom, P, Brovkin, V, Chatain, A, Callaghan, TV, Díaz, S, Garnier, E, Gurvich, DE, Kazakou, E, Klein, JA, Read, J, Reich, PB, Soudzilovskaia, NA, Vaieretti, MV & Westoby, M 2008, 'Plant species traits are the predominant control on litter decomposition rates within biomes worldwide', Ecology Letters, vol. 11, no. 10, pp. 1065-1071. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01219.x

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abstract = "Worldwide decomposition rates depend both on climate and the legacy of plant functional traits as litter quality. To quantify the degree to which functional differentiation among species affects their litter decomposition rates, we brought together leaf trait and litter mass loss data for 818 species from 66 decomposition experiments on six continents. We show that: (i) the magnitude of species-driven differences is much larger than previously thought and greater than climate-driven variation; (ii) the decomposability of a species' litter is consistently correlated with that species' ecological strategy within different ecosystems globally, representing a new connection between whole plant carbon strategy and biogeochemical cycling. This connection between plant strategies and decomposability is crucial for both understanding vegetation-soil feedbacks, and for improving forecasts of the global carbon cycle.",

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AU - Eviner, Valerie T.

AU - Godoy, Oscar

AU - Hobbie, Sarah E.

AU - Hoorens, Bart

AU - Kurokawa, Hiroko

AU - Pérez-Harguindeguy, Natalia

AU - Quested, Helen M.

AU - Santiago, Louis S.

AU - Wardle, David A.

AU - Wright, Ian J.

AU - Aerts, Rien

AU - Allison, Steven D.

AU - Van Bodegom, Peter

AU - Brovkin, Victor

AU - Chatain, Alex

AU - Callaghan, Terry V.

AU - Díaz, Sandra

AU - Garnier, Eric

AU - Gurvich, Diego E.

AU - Kazakou, Elena

AU - Klein, Julia A.

AU - Read, Jenny

AU - Reich, Peter B.

AU - Soudzilovskaia, Nadejda A.

AU - Vaieretti, M. Victoria

AU - Westoby, Mark

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N2 - Worldwide decomposition rates depend both on climate and the legacy of plant functional traits as litter quality. To quantify the degree to which functional differentiation among species affects their litter decomposition rates, we brought together leaf trait and litter mass loss data for 818 species from 66 decomposition experiments on six continents. We show that: (i) the magnitude of species-driven differences is much larger than previously thought and greater than climate-driven variation; (ii) the decomposability of a species' litter is consistently correlated with that species' ecological strategy within different ecosystems globally, representing a new connection between whole plant carbon strategy and biogeochemical cycling. This connection between plant strategies and decomposability is crucial for both understanding vegetation-soil feedbacks, and for improving forecasts of the global carbon cycle.

AB - Worldwide decomposition rates depend both on climate and the legacy of plant functional traits as litter quality. To quantify the degree to which functional differentiation among species affects their litter decomposition rates, we brought together leaf trait and litter mass loss data for 818 species from 66 decomposition experiments on six continents. We show that: (i) the magnitude of species-driven differences is much larger than previously thought and greater than climate-driven variation; (ii) the decomposability of a species' litter is consistently correlated with that species' ecological strategy within different ecosystems globally, representing a new connection between whole plant carbon strategy and biogeochemical cycling. This connection between plant strategies and decomposability is crucial for both understanding vegetation-soil feedbacks, and for improving forecasts of the global carbon cycle.

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KW - Leaf economic spectrum

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KW - Meta-analysis

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Plant species traits are the predominant control on litter decomposition rates within biomes worldwide

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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