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Spatial Variability of Plant Litter Decomposition in Stream Networks: from Litter Bags to Watersheds

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Abstract

The decomposition of plant litter plays a fundamental role in the cycling of carbon and nutrients and is driven by complex interactions of biological and physical controls, yet little is known about its variability and controls across spatial scales. Here we address the indirect effects of riparian canopy cover on litter decomposition and decomposers and their variability within a set of hierarchical scales (watershed, stream segments and reaches) controlling for confounding factors that could co-vary with canopy cover (for example, temperature and nutrients), in high-altitude subtropical streams. Total, microbial and invertebrate-driven decomposition rates were approximately 1.4–6.6 times higher in closed-canopy than in open-canopy watersheds. Riparian canopy cover accounted for 62–69% of total variability of decomposition rates and indirectly (via light availability and litter inputs) promoted fungal facilitation of shredders through leaf litter conditioning. In contrast to what we expected, much of the spatial variability in the decomposition occurred at smaller scale (4–20% of total variability among reaches versus <1% among watersheds) and coincided with the greatest variability in shredder abundance and fungal biomass (70 and 17% among reaches, respectively). We conclude that riparian canopy cover may be an important control of natural variability of litter decomposition at the watershed scale through its effects on fungal decomposers and shredder consumption. We also provide evidence of higher reach and minor watershed variability of litter decomposition in stream networks. Our results point to the importance of identifying the sources of natural variability of decomposition and how they interact within and among spatial scales.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Manuel A.S. Graça, José R. Pujol Luz, Daniel von Schiller and Luz Boyero for their valuable comments on an early draft of this manuscript; Rafael C. Loureiro and Suéle F. Santolin for indispensable field and laboratory support; and DPP/UnB for financial support of the English review. AMT received a scholarship from CAPES; and LUH received financial support from CNPq (Process#471572/2012-8). We declare that the owners of the lands gave us permission to conduct the study on these sites.

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  1. AMT, LUH and JFGJr designed the experiment; AMT and LUH performed the research; AMT analysed the data and wrote the paper with feedback from LUH and JFGJr.

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  1. Limnology Lab, Ecology Department, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Brasilia, Campus Darcy Ribeiro, Asa Norte, Brasilia, Federal District, CEP 70910-900, Brazil

    Alan Mosele Tonin & José Francisco Gonçalves Jr.

  2. Biomonitoring Lab, Biological Sciences Department, University Regional Integrada do Alto Uruguai e das Missões, Sete de Setembro Avenue 1621, Erechim, Rio Grande do Sul, CEP 99709-910, Brazil

    Alan Mosele Tonin & Luiz Ubiratan Hepp

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Mosele Tonin, A., Ubiratan Hepp, L. & Gonçalves, J.F. Spatial Variability of Plant Litter Decomposition in Stream Networks: from Litter Bags to Watersheds. Ecosystems 21, 567–581 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-017-0169-1

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