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Evidence for positive priming of leaf litter decomposition by contact with eutrophic pond sediments

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Abstract

Organic matter processing controls the flow of carbon and nutrients through ecosystems. Heterotrophic metabolism within ponds is supported by both terrestrial leaf litter and autochthonous production. We investigated the potential for the priming of leaf litter decomposition in small ponds using microcosms. We incubated senescent tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) leaf discs in the dark for 130 days either in contact with eutrophic pond sediments or isolated from sediment contact. Leaves that had been in contact with the sediments were significantly less tough and lost more carbon mass following the incubation than leaves that were not in contact with the sediments, indicating that they were decomposing faster. We calculated a positive priming effect of the sediments of 42% and 77% based on the change in toughness and C mass loss, respectively. We further found that leaf discs that were in contact with the sediments had significantly less fungal biomass, measured as ergosterol mass, and less leaf-derived N in fungal biomass than the leaf discs isolated from the sediments. These results indicate that the presence of the more labile organic matter of the sediments alters the rate of organic matter mineralization and the cycling of nitrogen and carbon.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available in the Zenodo repository, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2875782

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Acknowledgements

We thank Julia Marcellus and Jen Andrews for assistance with the field and laboratory work. We also thank Hal Halvorson and Kevin Kuehn for completing the ergosterol measurements. The manuscript was greatly improved by comments by Hal Halvorson and two anonymous reviewers. This study was partially supported by the Longwood University PRISM program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biological and Environmental Sciences, Longwood University, Farmville, USA

    Kenneth Fortino & Jessica Hoak

  2. Southern Piedmont Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Virginia Polytechnic and State University, Blackstone, USA

    Jessica Hoak

  3. Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, USA

    Matthew N. Waters

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  1. Kenneth Fortino
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  2. Jessica Hoak
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  3. Matthew N. Waters
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KF and JH designed and executed the study. KF analyzed and interpreted the data and wrote the manuscript. MW measured the C:N of the samples and provided feedback on the manuscript and analysis and interpretation of the data.

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Correspondence to Kenneth Fortino.

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Fortino, K., Hoak, J. & Waters, M.N. Evidence for positive priming of leaf litter decomposition by contact with eutrophic pond sediments. Hydrobiologia 847, 137–149 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-019-04077-0

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