TY  - JOUR
AU  - Peguero, G.
AU  - Sardans, J.
AU  - Asensio, D.
AU  - Fernández-Martínez, M.
AU  - Gargallo-Garriga, A.
AU  - Grau, O.
AU  - LlusiüJ.
AU  - Margalef, O.
AU  - Márquez, L.
AU  - Ogaya, R.
AU  - Urbina, I.
AU  - Courtois, E.A.
AU  - Stahl, C.
AU  - Van Langenhove, L.
AU  - Verryckt, L.T.
AU  - Richter, A.
AU  - Janssens, I.A.
AU  - Peñuelas, J.
PY  - 2019//
TI  - Nutrient scarcity strengthens soil fauna control over leaf litter decomposition in tropical rainforests
T2  - Proc. Biol. Sci.
JO  - Proceedings. Biological sciences
SP  - 20191300
VL  - 286
IS  - 1910
PB  - NLM (Medline)
KW  - biogeochemistry
KW  - extracellular enzyme activity
KW  - litter decomposition
KW  - nutrients
KW  - soil fauna
N2  - Soil fauna is a key control of the decomposition rate of leaf litter, yet its interactions with litter quality and the soil environment remain elusive. We conducted a litter decomposition experiment across different topographic levels within the landscape replicated in two rainforest sites providing natural gradients in soil fertility to test the hypothesis that low nutrient availability in litter and soil increases the strength of fauna control over litter decomposition. We crossed these data with a large dataset of 44 variables characterizing the biotic and abiotic microenvironment of each sampling point and found that microbe-driven carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) losses from leaf litter were 10.1 and 17.9% lower, respectively, in the nutrient-poorest site, but this among-site difference was equalized when meso- and macrofauna had access to the litterbags. Further, on average, soil fauna enhanced the rate of litter decomposition by 22.6%, and this contribution consistently increased as nutrient availability in the microenvironment declined. Our results indicate that nutrient scarcity increases the importance of soil fauna on C and N cycling in tropical rainforests. Further, soil fauna is able to equalize differences in microbial decomposition potential, thus buffering to a remarkable extent nutrient shortages at an ecosystem level.
SN  - 14712954 (Issn)
UR  - https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85071759081&doi=10.1098%2frspb.2019.1300&partnerID=40&md5=ae6b840ecd457c42a5f995e6bf788080
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.1300
N1  - exported from refbase (http://php.ecofog.gf/refbase/show.php?record=884), last updated on Wed, 18 Sep 2019 15:27:51 -0300
ID  - Peguero_etal2019
ER  -