RT Journal Article
T1 Direct and legacy effects of plant-traits control litter decomposition in a deciduous oak forest in Mexico
A1 Chávez Vergara, Bruno
A1 Merino García, Agustín
A1 González Rodríguez, Antonio
A1 Oyama, Ken
A1 García Oliva​, Felipe
K1 Litter decomposition
K1 Quercus
K1 Differential Scaning Calorimetry
K1 13C NMR
K1 Enzymatic activity
AB BackgroundLitter decomposition is a key process in the functioning of forest ecosystems, because it strongly controls nutrient recycling and soil fertility maintenance. The interaction between the litter chemical composition and the metabolism of the soil microbial community has been described as the main factor of the decomposition process based on three hypotheses: substrate-matrix interaction (SMI), functional breadth (FB) and home-field advantage (HFA). The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of leaf litter quality (as a direct plant effect, SMI hypothesis), the metabolic capacity of the microbial community (as a legacy effect, FB hypothesis), and the coupling between the litter quality and microbial activity (HFA hypothesis) on the litter decomposition of two contiguous deciduous oak species at a local scale.MethodsTo accomplish this objective, we performed a litterbag experiment in the field for 270 days to evaluate mass loss, leaf litter quality and microbial activity in a complete factorial design for litter quality and species site.ResultsThe litter of Quercus deserticola had higher rate of decomposition independently of the site, while the site of Quercus castanea promoted a higher rate of decomposition independently of the litter quality, explained by the specialization of the soil microbial community in the use of recalcitrant organic compounds. The Home-Field Advantage Index was reduced with the decomposition date (22% and 4% for 30 and 270 days, respectively).DiscussionWe observed that the importance of the coupling of litter quality and microbial activity depends on decomposition stage. At the early decomposition stage, the home-advantage hypothesis explained the mass loss of litter; however, in the advanced decomposition stage, the litter quality and the metabolic capacity of the microbial community can be the key drivers
PB PEERJ Inc
SN 2167-8359
YR 2018
FD 2018
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10347/22292
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10347/22292
LA eng
NO Chávez-Vergara B, Merino A, González-Rodríguez A, Oyama K, García-Oliva F. 2018. Direct and legacy effects of plant-traits control litter decomposition in a deciduous oak forest in Mexico. PeerJ 6:e5095
NO B. Chávez-Vergara acknowledges the support from the Graduate Program in Biological Sciences of the National Autonomous University of México (UNAM) Economic support was received from project UNAM-DGAPA-PAPIIT IN206414 and IV201015 to Antonio González-Rodríguez
DS Minerva
RD 22 abr 2026