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The leaf economic spectrum drives leaf litter decomposition in Mediterranean forests

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Abstract

Background and aims

Leaf litter decomposition is an important process controlling nutrient cycling in most terrestrial ecosystems. We evaluated the relationships among traits of green leaves and decomposition rates of leaf litter (k) at different environmental scales and organisational levels (species and community). We also assessed the relationships at community level between k and the Leaf Economic Spectrum (LES) and between k and different soil variables.

Methods

We measured leaf traits in 38 woody species distributed in nine sampling sites along a topographic gradient in southern Spain. Leaf litter was collected for each species in each sampling site and incubated in a microcosm experiment with soil collected from the top 20 cm of each site.

Results

We found positive relationships between k and specific leaf area (SLA), leaf N, K and P and negative relationships with leaf dry matter content (LDMC) and leaf C isotopic composition (δ13C), both at species and community levels. Decomposability was positively related with the first PCA axis describing the LES and the relationships were consistent across all sites and within different zones or topographic positions. In addition, community weighted mean values of leaf traits (LESCWM) were stronger predictors of litter decomposition than soil variables.

Conclusions

A major finding of the present study is the main role that leaf traits, and the covariation among them (LES), play on decomposition process in Mediterranean ecosystems both at the species and community levels. In summary, our results support the idea that the suites of leaf traits have a strong control on the pace of C cycling, being the best drivers of decomposition processes under similar climatic conditions.

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Abbreviations

SLA:

Specific leaf area

LDMC:

Leaf dry matter content

δ13C:

Leaf carbon isotope ratio

LN:

Leaf nitrogen concentration

LP:

Leaf phosphorus concentration

LK:

Leaf potassium concentration

LES:

Leaf economic spectrum

CWM:

Community weighted mean

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the Spanish MEC Projects DIVERBOS (CGL2011-30285-C02-01 and C02-02) and ECO-MEDIT (CGL2014-53236-R). We are grateful for the support of the staff in the IRNAS (CSIC) for soil analysis, and for the help of C. Navarro, J.P. Gómez and M. Olmo during field sampling and trait measurements. We are also grateful to Dr. T. Marañón for his comments on an early version of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology, Brandenburg University of Technology, Cottbus, Germany

    Enrique G. de la Riva

  2. Área de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Córdoba, 14071, Córdoba, Spain

    Enrique G. de la Riva & Rafael Villar

  3. Soil and Water Conservation Department, Centro de Edafología y Biología Aplicada del Segura - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CEBAS-CSIC), Campus Universitario de Espinardo, Murcia, Spain

    Iván Prieto

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  1. Enrique G. de la Riva
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Correspondence to Enrique G. de la Riva.

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Responsible Editor: Zucong Cai.

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de la Riva, E.G., Prieto, I. & Villar, R. The leaf economic spectrum drives leaf litter decomposition in Mediterranean forests. Plant Soil 435, 353–366 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-018-3883-3

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