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Global Patterns of Plant Litter Decomposition in Streams

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The Ecology of Plant Litter Decomposition in Stream Ecosystems

Abstract

Understanding ecological patterns and processes at the global scale is becoming increasingly important in view of the rapid pace of environmental change and consequent impacts on ecosystems. This chapter reviews current knowledge about how plant litter decomposition—a key stream ecosystem process—and its major biotic and abiotic drivers vary globally along geographic gradients. The evidence available suggests that thermal regime is the main factor influencing microbial decomposition rate, which tends to increase with temperature. The presence or absence of litter-consuming detritivores is a major determinant of overall decomposition rate, the scarcity of these invertebrates being a common pattern in tropical streams. However, relating detritivore-mediated decomposition rates to environmental factors is complex, because of the interplay between detritivore abundance, body size distribution, diversity and community composition, as well as plant litter traits and diversity, all of which are influenced by climate, geology and biogeography. Meta-analyses and a growing number of coordinated large-scale studies have greatly enhanced our understanding of geographical variation of litter decomposition in streams, and have enabled first projections of how climate warming and a range of other aspects of global environmental change will affect the process.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Leioa, Spain

    Luz Boyero, Javier Pérez & Naiara López-Rojo

  2. IKERBASQUE, Bilbao, Spain

    Luz Boyero

  3. Department of Experimental Limnology, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Berlin, Germany

    Mark O. Gessner

  4. Department of Ecology, Berlin Institute of Technology (TU Berlin), Berlin, Germany

    Mark O. Gessner

  5. School of Science and Engineering and Centre for Tropical Water and Aquatic Ecosystem Research (TropWater), James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia

    Richard G. Pearson

  6. Laboratoire Écologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement, Université de Toulouse-CNRS, Toulouse, France

    Eric Chauvet

  7. Department of Biological Sciences, Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Scott D. Tiegs

  8. Limnology-Aquaripária Lab, University of Brasília (UnB), Brasília, Brazil

    Alan M. Tonin

  9. Unidad de Cambio Climático y Medio Ambiente, Instituto Iberoamericano de Desarrollo Sostenible (IIDS), Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Temuco, Chile

    Francisco Correa-Araneda

  10. Department of Life Sciences and Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre (MARE), University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Manuel A. S. Graça

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  1. Geography and Environmental Sciences, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Christopher M. Swan

  2. Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country, Leioa, Bizkaia, Spain

    Luz Boyero

  3. Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Centre for Functional Ecology, Coimbra, Portugal

    Cristina Canhoto

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Boyero, L. et al. (2021). Global Patterns of Plant Litter Decomposition in Streams. In: Swan, C.M., Boyero, L., Canhoto, C. (eds) The Ecology of Plant Litter Decomposition in Stream Ecosystems. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72854-0_4

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