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Countervailing effects on pine and oak leaf litter decomposition in human-altered Mediterranean ecosystems

  • Special Topic: Coordinated approaches to global change research
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Abstract

Species affect the dynamics of litter decay through the intrinsic properties of their litter, but also by influencing the environmental conditions imposed by their canopy, roots, and litter layers. We examined how human-induced changes in the relative abundances of two dominant Mediterranean trees—Pinus halepensis and Quercus calliprinos—impact leaf litter decomposition. A reciprocal transplant experiment tested decomposition of pine, oak, and mixed leaf litter in oak woodland and pine forest ecosystems with different relative abundances of pine and oak. Using likelihood methods, we tested the importance and magnitude of the environmental effects of local species abundance, litter layer composition, and soil properties on litter mass loss. Oak litter decomposition was slower than pine, and had an antagonistic effect on mixed litter decay. These results differ from other reported pine–oak associations, and are probably associated with a higher content of tannins and phenols in oak compared to pine litter in our study sites. The environmental effects of the two species were opposite to their litter decomposition dynamics. An increased proportion of pine in the oak woodlands and a higher content of pine needles in the litter layer of pine forests reduced decay rates. The presence of more oak and broadleaf litter in the litter layer accelerated decomposition in pine forests. Our results highlight the importance of considering multidimensional species effects mediated by both chemical and physical properties, and imply that man-made changes in the composition and configuration of plant communities may result in complex unpredicted consequences to ecosystem biogeochemistry.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Eli Zaady and Jose Gruenzweig for their helpful advice. We would like to thank Ezra Moshe, Rafi Yonatan, Hagit Baram, Gabriel Cohen, Rachel and Israel Sheffer, Guy Mashiach and others for their help in the field experiment; and Levana Dvash, Rita Dumbor, and others for their help with the laboratory work and analyses. Finally, we thank Jose Gruenzweig, Gidi Ne’eman, the Hedin lab members, Sarah Hobbie, and three anonymous reviewers for helping us to improve this text. This work was funded by Nekudat Hen, the Israeli Science Foundation grant #514/10, and the Israel Forest Authority (KKL).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Robert H. Smith Institute of Plant Sciences and Genetics in Agriculture, Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel

    Efrat Sheffer & Jaime Kigel

  2. Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Box AB, Millbrook, NY, USA

    Charles D. Canham

  3. Department of Agronomy and Natural Resources, Institute of Plant Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization—The Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel

    Avi Perevolotsky

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  1. Efrat Sheffer
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  2. Charles D. Canham
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Correspondence to Efrat Sheffer.

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Communicated by Michael Madritch.

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Sheffer, E., Canham, C.D., Kigel, J. et al. Countervailing effects on pine and oak leaf litter decomposition in human-altered Mediterranean ecosystems. Oecologia 177, 1039–1051 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-015-3228-3

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