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Litter and soil characteristics mediate the buffering effect of snow cover on litter decomposition

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Abstract

Aims

In cold biomes, snow cover mitigates the harsh winter soil conditions, thereby enhancing overwinter decomposition of organic matter which controls the availability of nutrients for plants and microbial uptake at the beginning of the growing season. Yet, how this buffering effect is modulated by litter traits, soil characteristics and herbivory remains poorly studied.

Methods

We conducted a litter-bag experiment in four types of subalpine grasslands, two of which being naturally free of snow during most of the winter. Litter bags were filled either by grasses or forbs sampled in plots submitted the preceding summer to grasshopper grazing treatments.

Results

Snow cover strongly increased the decomposition of forbs, but not of grasses. Litter quality (low C:N and polyphenols triggering a priming effect) and soil ammonium content were correlated with litter decomposition rate in the presence of snow only, whereas soil organic matter content was positively associated with decomposition rate under both snow regimes. Herbivory did not affect decomposition.

Conclusions

Our findings may be explained by the functional differences between copiotrophic and oligotrophic microbes, copiotrophs being more sensitive to harsh abiotic conditions than oligotrophs. As long as copiotrophs are favored by high litter quality and nutrient-rich soils (high ammonium content), litter decomposition is enhanced in the absence of snow only.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the ECO-SERVE project through the 2013–2014 BiodivERsA/FACCE-JPI joint call for research proposals, with the national funders ANR, NWO, FCT (BiodivERsA/001/2014), MINECO, FORMAS and SNF. This work was also funded by the Alpine Ecology Lab. We thank the municipality of Autrans-Méaudre, the local farmers and the Refuge de Gève for their authorization to access the study sites, Jonathan Crison for his hospitality, Samuel Morin for his help to retrieve meteorological data. We are grateful to Hugo Girard, Matteo Tolosano, Louise Maris and Pablo Raguet for their assistance during field work. We thank Sylvain Coq for his helpful comments on an earlier version. We are also grateful to two anonymous reviewers for their useful suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University Grenoble Alpes, University Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, LECA, UMR5553, Chambéry, France

    Sébastien Ibanez, Charles Brun, Annie Millery, Gabin Piton, Lionel Bernard, Jean-Noël Avrillier, Christiane Gallet, Arnaud Foulquier & Jean-Christophe Clément

  2. Environment Institute, Hepia Geneva, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland – Land, Nature, Route de Presinge 150, CH-1254, Jussy, Switzerland

    Charles Brun

  3. University Savoie Mont Blanc, INRAE, CARRTEL, Thonon-Les-Bains, France

    Jean-Noël Avrillier & Jean-Christophe Clément

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  1. Sébastien Ibanez
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Correspondence to Sébastien Ibanez.

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Ibanez, S., Brun, C., Millery, A. et al. Litter and soil characteristics mediate the buffering effect of snow cover on litter decomposition. Plant Soil 460, 511–525 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04803-x

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