Understanding the dominant controls on litter decomposition

Summary Litter decomposition is a biogeochemical process fundamental to element cycling within ecosystems, influencing plant productivity, species composition and carbon storage. Climate has long been considered the primary broad‐scale control on litter decomposition rates, yet recent work suggests that plant litter traits may predominate. Both decomposition paradigms, however, rely on inferences from cross‐biome litter decomposition studies that analyse site‐level means. We re‐analyse data from a classical cross‐biome study to demonstrate that previous research may falsely inflate the regulatory role of climate on decomposition and mask the influence of unmeasured local‐scale factors. Using the re‐analysis as…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Awards: DEB‐1021098, DEB‐1457614, 1021098, DEB-1021098, 1457614