Controls over leaf litter decomposition in wet tropical forests

Ecology

Volumn 90, Issue 12, 2009, Pages 3333-3341

  Wieder, William R ^a   Cleveland, Cory C ^b   Townsend, Alan R ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA   (United States)

Author keywords

Decomposition; Dissolved organic matter (DOM); Leaching; Litter chemistry; Nutrient limitation; Phosphorus; Precipitation; Throughfall manipulation; Tropical rain forest

Indexed keywords

NITROGEN; ORGANIC COMPOUND; PHOSPHORUS; RAIN;

BIOME; CARBON CYCLE; DECOMPOSITION; DISSOLVED ORGANIC MATTER; LEACHING; LEAF LITTER; LIGNIN; NUTRIENT AVAILABILITY; NUTRIENT LIMITATION; PHOSPHORUS; PRECIPITATION (CLIMATOLOGY); THROUGHFALL; TROPICAL FOREST;

ARTICLE; BIOREMEDIATION; COSTA RICA; METABOLISM; PLANT LEAF; SOIL; SOLUBILITY; TREE; TROPIC CLIMATE;

BIODEGRADATION, ENVIRONMENTAL; COSTA RICA; NITROGEN; ORGANIC CHEMICALS; PHOSPHORUS; PLANT LEAVES; RAIN; SOIL; SOLUBILITY; TREES; TROPICAL CLIMATE;

COSTA RICA;

EID: 72949091095     PISSN: 00129658     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1890/08-2294.1     Document Type: Article

References (57)

1. Adair, E. C., W. J. Parton, S. J. Del Grosso, W. L. Silver, M. E. Harmon, S. A. Hall, I. C. Burkes, and S. C. Hart. 2008. Simple three-pool model accurately describes patterns of long-term litter decomposition in diverse climates. Global Change Biology 14: 2636-2660.
2. Aerts, R. 1997. Climate, leaf litter chemistry and leaf litter decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems: a triangular relationship. Oikos 79: 439-449.
3. Allison, S. D., and P. M. Vitousek. 2004. Extracellular enzyme activities and carbon chemistry as drivers of tropical plant litter decomposition. Biotropica 36: 285-296.
4. Austin, A. T., and P. M. Vitousek. 2000. Precipitation, decomposition and litter decomposability of Metrosideros polymorpha in native forests on Hawai'i. Journal of Ecology 88: 129-138.
5. Bern, C. R., A. R. Townsend, and G. L. Farmer. 2005. Unexpected dominance of parent-material strontium in a tropical forest on highly weathered soils. Ecology 86: 626-632.
6. Clark, D. A. 2004. Sources or sinks? The responses of tropical forests to current and future climate and atmospheric composition. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 359: 477-491.
7. Clark, D. A., S. Brown, D. W. Kicklighter, J. Q. Chambes, J. R. Thomlinson, J. Ni, and E. A. Holland. 2001. Net primary production in tropical forests: an evaluation and synthesis of existing field data. Ecological Applications 11: 371-384.
8. Cleveland, C. C., S. C. Reed, and A. R. Townsend. 2006. Nutrient regulation of organic matter decomposition in a tropical rain forest. Ecology 87: 492-503.
9. Cleveland, C. C., and A. R. Townsend. 2006. Nutrient additions to a tropical rain forest drive substantial soil carbon dioxide losses to the atmosphere. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) 103: 10316-10321.
10. Cleveland, C. C., A. R. Townsend, and S. K. Schmidt. 2002. Phosphorus limitation of microbial processes in moist tropical forests: evidence from short-term laboratory incubations and field experiments. Ecosystems 5: 680-691.
11. Cornwell, W. K., et al. 2008. Plant species traits are the predominant control on litter decomposition rates within biomes worldwide. Ecology Letters 11: 1065-1071.
12. Currie, W. S., and J. D. Aber. 1997. Modeling leaching as a decomposition process in humid montane forests. Ecology 78: 1844-1860.
13. Dixon, R. K., S. Brown, R. A. Houghton, A. M. Solomon, M. C. Trexler, and J. Wisniewski. 1994. Carbon pools and flux of global forest ecosystems. Science 263: 185-190.
14. Field, C. B., M. J. Behrenfeld, J. T. Randerson, and P. Falkowski. 1998. Primary production of the biosphere: integrating terrestrial and oceanic components. Science 281: 237-240.
15. Gholz, H. L., D. A. Wedin, S. M. Smitherman, M. E. Harmon, and W. J. Parton. 2000. Long-term dynamics of pine and hardwood litter in contrasting environments: toward a global model of decomposition. Global Change Biology 6: 751-765.
16. Hobbie, S. E. 1992. Effects of plant-species on nutrient cycling. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 7: 336-339.
17. Hobbie, S. E. 1996. Temperature and plant species control over litter decomposition in Alaskan tundra. Ecological Monographs 66: 503-522.
18. Hobbie, S. E., and L. Gough. 2004. Litter decomposition in moist acidic and non-acidic tundra with different glacial histories. Oecologia 140: 113-124.
19. Hobbie, S. E., P. B. Reich, J. Oleksyn, M. Ogdahl, R. Zytkowiak, C. Hale, and P. Karolewski. 2006. Tree species effects on decomposition and forest floor dynamics in a common garden. Ecology 87: 2288-2297.
20. Hobbie, S. E., and P. M. Vitousek. 2000. Nutrient limitation of decomposition in Hawaiian forests. Ecology 81: 1867-1877.
21. Kappelle, M., C. Marco, H. Acevedo, L. Gonzalez, and H. Monge. 2003. Ecosistemas del area de conservacón Osa (ACOSA). Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad, San Jose, Costa Rica.
22. Kaspari, M., M. N. Garcia, K. E. Harms, M. Santana, S. J. Wright, and J. B. Yavitt. 2008. Multiple nutrients limit litterfall and decomposition in a tropical forest. Ecology Letters 11: 35-43.
23. Kitayama, K., S. Aiba, M. Takyu, N. Majalap, and R. Wagai. 2004. Soil phosphorus fractionation and phosphorus-use efficiency of a Bornean tropical montane rain forest during soil aging with podozolization. Ecosystems 7: 259-274.
24. Kuo, S. 1996. Phosphorus. Pages 869-919 in D. L. Sparks, editor. Methods of soil analysis. Part 3. Chemical methods. Soil Science Society of America, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
25. Loranger, G., J. F. Ponge, D. Imbert, and P. Lavelle. 2002. Leaf decomposition in two semi-evergreen tropical forests: influence of litter quality. Biology and Fertility of Soils 35: 247-252.
26. Martinelli, L., M. Piccolo, A. Townsend, P. Vitousek, E. Cuevas, W. McDowell, G. Robertson, O. Santos, and K. Treseder. 1999. Nitrogen stable isotopic composition of leaves and soil: tropical versus temperate forests. Biogeo- chemistry 46: 45-65.
27. McGroddy, M. E., W. L. Silver, and J. R. Cosme de Oliveira. 2004. The effect of phosphorus availabililty on decomposition in a seasonal lowland Amazonian forest. Ecosystems 7: 172-179.
28. Meehl, G. A., et al. 2007. Global climate projections. Pages 747-843 in S. Solomon, D. Qin, M. Manning, Z. Chen, M. Marquis, K. B. Averyt, M. Tignor, and H. L. Miller, editors. Climate Change 2007: the physical science basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, New York, New York, USA.
29. Meentemeyer, V. 1978. Macroclimate and lignin control of litter decomposition rates. Ecology 59: 465-472.
30. Melillo, J. M., J. D. Aber, and J. F. Muratore. 1982. Nitrogen and lignin control of hardwood leaf litter decomposition dynamics. Ecology 63: 621-626.
31. Neff, J. C., and G. P. Asner. 2001. Dissolved organic carbon in terrestrial ecosystems: synthesis and a model. Ecosystems 4: 29-48.
32. Nepstad, D. C., et al. 2002. The effects of partial throughfall exclusion on canopy processes, aboveground production, and biogeochemistry of an Amazon forest. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 107. [doi: 10.1029/ 2001JD000360]
33. Olson, J. S. 1963. Energy storage and the balance of producers and decomposers in ecological systems. Ecology 44: 322-331.
34. Parton, W., W. L. Silver, I. C. Burke, L. Grassens, M. E. Harmon, W. S. Currie, J. Y. King, E. C. Adair, L. A. Brandt, S. C. Hart, and B. Fasth. 2007. Global-scale similarities in nitrogen release patterns during long-term decomposition. Science 315: 361-364.
35. Potter, C. S., and S. A. Klooster. 1997. Global model estimates of carbon and nitrogen storage in litter and soil pools: response to changes in vegetation quality and biomass allocation. Tellus Series B, Chemical and Physical Meteorology 49: 1-17.
36. Quesada, F. J., Q. Jimenez, N. Zamora, R. Aguilar, and J. Gonzalez. 1997. Arboles de la Peninsula de Osa. First edition. Instituto de Biodiversidad, Heredia, Costa Rica.
37. Reed, S. C., C. C. Cleveland, and A. R. Townsend. 2007. Controls over leaf litter and soil nitrogen fixation in two lowland tropical rain forests. Biotropica 39: 585-592.
38. Reich, P. B., and J. Oleksyn. 2004. Global patterns of plant leaf N and P in relation to temperature and latitude. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) 101: 11001-11006.
39. Saleska, S. R., et al. 2003. Carbon in Amazon forests: unexpected seasonal fluxes and disturbance-induced losses. Science 302: 1554-1557.
40. Santiago, L. S. 2007. Extending the leaf economics spectrum to decomposition: evidence from a tropical forest. Ecology 88: 1126-1131.
41. Scherer-Lorenzen, M., J. L. Bonilla, and C. Potvin. 2007. Tree species richness affects litter production and decomposition rates in a tropical biodiversity experiment. Oikos 116: 2108-2124.
42. Schuur, E. A. G. 2001. The effect of water on decomposition dynamics in mesic to wet Hawaiian montane forests. Ecosystems 4: 259-273.
43. Schuur, E. A. 2003. Productivity and global climate revisited: the sensitivity of tropical forest growth to precipitation. Ecology 84: 1165-1170.
44. Silver, W. H., A. E. Lugo, and M. Keller. 1999. Soil oxygen availability and biogeochemistry along rainfall and topographic gradients in upland wet tropical forest soils. Biogeochemistry 44: 301-328.
45. Swift, M. J.,O.W.Heal, and J. M. Anderson. 1979. Decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems. University of California Press, Berkeley, California, USA.
46. Tian, H. Q., J. M. Melillo, D. W. Kicklighter, A. D. McGuire, J. V. K. Helfrich, B. Moore, and C. J. Vorosmarty. 1998. Effect of interannual climate variability on carbon storage in Amazonian ecosystems. Nature 396: 664-667.
47. Townsend, A. R., G. P. Asner, and C. C. Cleveland. 2008. The biogeochemical heterogeneity of tropical forests. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 23: 424-431.
48. Townsend, A. R., C. C. Cleveland, G. P. Asner, and M. M. C. Bustamante. 2007. Controls over foliar N: P ratios in tropical rain forests. Ecology 88: 107-118.
49. Vitousek, P. M. 1984. Litterfall, nutrient cycling, and nutrient limitation in tropical forests. Ecology 65: 285-298.
50. Vitousek, P. M., and H. Farrington. 1997. Nutrient limitation and soil development: experimental test of a biogeochemical theory. Biogeochemistry 37: 63-75.
51. Vitousek, P. M., and J. R. L. Sanford. 1986. Nutrient cycling in moist tropical forest. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 17: 137-167.
52. Vitousek, P. M., D. R. Turner, W. J. Parton, and R. L. Sanford. 1994. Litter decomposition on the Mauna Loa environmental matrix, Hawai'i: patterns, mechanisms, and models. Ecology 75: 418-429.
53. Wieder, R. K., and S. J. Wright. 1995. Tropical forest litter dynamics and dry season irrigation on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Ecology 76: 1971-1979.
54. Wieder, W. R., C. C. Cleveland, and A. R. Townsend. 2008. Tropical tree species composition affects the oxidation of dissolved organic matter from litter. Biogeochemistry 88: 127-138.
55. Xu, X. N., and E. J. Hirata. 2005. Decomposition patterns of leaf litter of seven common canopy species in a subtropical forest: N and P dynamics. Plant and Soil 273: 279-289.
56. Yavitt, J. B., R. K. Wieder, and S. J. Wright. 1993. Soil nutrient dynamics in response to irrigation of a Panamanian tropical moist forest. Biogeochemistry 19: 1-25.
57. Zaks, D. P. M., N. Ramankutty, C. C. Barford, and J. A. Foley. 2007. From Miami to Madison: investigating the relationship between climate and terrestrial net primary production. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 21. [doi: 10.1029/2006GB002705]