Plant species traits are the predominant control on litter decomposition rates within biomes worldwide

William K. Cornwell; Johannes H C Cornelissen; Kathryn Amatangelo; Ellen Dorrepaal; Valerie T. Eviner; Oscar Godoy; Sarah E. Hobbie; Bart Hoorens; Hiroko Kurokawa; Natalia Pérez-Harguindeguy; Helen M. Quested; Louis S. Santiago; David A. Wardle; Ian J. Wright; Rien Aerts; Steven D. Allison; Peter Van Bodegom; Victor Brovkin; Alex Chatain; Terry V. Callaghan; Sandra Díaz; Eric Garnier; Diego E. Gurvich; Elena Kazakou; Julia A. Klein; Jenny Read; Peter B. Reich; Nadejda A. Soudzilovskaia; M. Victoria Vaieretti; Mark Westoby

doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01219.x

Plant species traits are the predominant control on litter decomposition rates within biomes worldwide

William K. Cornwell, Johannes H C Cornelissen, Kathryn Amatangelo, Ellen Dorrepaal, Valerie T. Eviner, Oscar Godoy, Sarah E. Hobbie, Bart Hoorens, Hiroko Kurokawa, Natalia Pérez-Harguindeguy, Helen M. Quested, Louis S. Santiago, David A. Wardle, Ian J. Wright, Rien Aerts, Steven D. Allison, Peter Van Bodegom, Victor Brovkin, Alex Chatain, Terry V. CallaghanSandra Díaz, Eric Garnier, Diego E. Gurvich, Elena Kazakou, Julia A. Klein, Jenny Read, Peter B. Reich, Nadejda A. Soudzilovskaia, M. Victoria Vaieretti, Mark Westoby

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1725 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Worldwide decomposition rates depend both on climate and the legacy of plant functional traits as litter quality. To quantify the degree to which functional differentiation among species affects their litter decomposition rates, we brought together leaf trait and litter mass loss data for 818 species from 66 decomposition experiments on six continents. We show that: (i) the magnitude of species-driven differences is much larger than previously thought and greater than climate-driven variation; (ii) the decomposability of a species' litter is consistently correlated with that species' ecological strategy within different ecosystems globally, representing a new connection between whole plant carbon strategy and biogeochemical cycling. This connection between plant strategies and decomposability is crucial for both understanding vegetation-soil feedbacks, and for improving forecasts of the global carbon cycle.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1065-1071
Number of pages	7
Journal	Ecology Letters
Volume	11
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01219.x
Publication status	Published - Oct 2008

Access to Document

10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01219.x

Cite this

Cornwell, W. K., Cornelissen, J. H. C., Amatangelo, K., Dorrepaal, E., Eviner, V. T., Godoy, O., Hobbie, S. E., Hoorens, B., Kurokawa, H., Pérez-Harguindeguy, N., Quested, H. M., Santiago, L. S., Wardle, D. A., Wright, I. J., Aerts, R., Allison, S. D., Van Bodegom, P., Brovkin, V., Chatain, A., ... Westoby, M. (2008). Plant species traits are the predominant control on litter decomposition rates within biomes worldwide. Ecology Letters, 11(10), 1065-1071. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01219.x

@article{428b2e5d0f2e4a0f83d3778b19aa8a45,

title = "Plant species traits are the predominant control on litter decomposition rates within biomes worldwide",

abstract = "Worldwide decomposition rates depend both on climate and the legacy of plant functional traits as litter quality. To quantify the degree to which functional differentiation among species affects their litter decomposition rates, we brought together leaf trait and litter mass loss data for 818 species from 66 decomposition experiments on six continents. We show that: (i) the magnitude of species-driven differences is much larger than previously thought and greater than climate-driven variation; (ii) the decomposability of a species' litter is consistently correlated with that species' ecological strategy within different ecosystems globally, representing a new connection between whole plant carbon strategy and biogeochemical cycling. This connection between plant strategies and decomposability is crucial for both understanding vegetation-soil feedbacks, and for improving forecasts of the global carbon cycle.",

author = "Cornwell, {William K.} and Cornelissen, {Johannes H C} and Kathryn Amatangelo and Ellen Dorrepaal and Eviner, {Valerie T.} and Oscar Godoy and Hobbie, {Sarah E.} and Bart Hoorens and Hiroko Kurokawa and Natalia P{\'e}rez-Harguindeguy and Quested, {Helen M.} and Santiago, {Louis S.} and Wardle, {David A.} and Wright, {Ian J.} and Rien Aerts and Allison, {Steven D.} and {Van Bodegom}, Peter and Victor Brovkin and Alex Chatain and Callaghan, {Terry V.} and Sandra D{\'i}az and Eric Garnier and Gurvich, {Diego E.} and Elena Kazakou and Klein, {Julia A.} and Jenny Read and Reich, {Peter B.} and Soudzilovskaia, {Nadejda A.} and Vaieretti, {M. Victoria} and Mark Westoby",

year = "2008",

month = oct,

doi = "10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01219.x",

language = "English",

volume = "11",

pages = "1065--1071",

journal = "Ecology Letters",

issn = "1461-023X",

publisher = "Wiley-Liss, Wiley",

number = "10",

}

Cornwell, WK, Cornelissen, JHC, Amatangelo, K, Dorrepaal, E, Eviner, VT, Godoy, O, Hobbie, SE, Hoorens, B, Kurokawa, H, Pérez-Harguindeguy, N, Quested, HM, Santiago, LS, Wardle, DA, Wright, IJ, Aerts, R, Allison, SD, Van Bodegom, P, Brovkin, V, Chatain, A, Callaghan, TV, Díaz, S, Garnier, E, Gurvich, DE, Kazakou, E, Klein, JA, Read, J, Reich, PB, Soudzilovskaia, NA, Vaieretti, MV & Westoby, M 2008, 'Plant species traits are the predominant control on litter decomposition rates within biomes worldwide', Ecology Letters, vol. 11, no. 10, pp. 1065-1071. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01219.x

TY - JOUR

T1 - Plant species traits are the predominant control on litter decomposition rates within biomes worldwide

AU - Cornwell, William K.

AU - Cornelissen, Johannes H C

AU - Amatangelo, Kathryn

AU - Dorrepaal, Ellen

AU - Eviner, Valerie T.

AU - Godoy, Oscar

AU - Hobbie, Sarah E.

AU - Hoorens, Bart

AU - Kurokawa, Hiroko

AU - Pérez-Harguindeguy, Natalia

AU - Quested, Helen M.

AU - Santiago, Louis S.

AU - Wardle, David A.

AU - Wright, Ian J.

AU - Aerts, Rien

AU - Allison, Steven D.

AU - Van Bodegom, Peter

AU - Brovkin, Victor

AU - Chatain, Alex

AU - Callaghan, Terry V.

AU - Díaz, Sandra

AU - Garnier, Eric

AU - Gurvich, Diego E.

AU - Kazakou, Elena

AU - Klein, Julia A.

AU - Read, Jenny

AU - Reich, Peter B.

AU - Soudzilovskaia, Nadejda A.

AU - Vaieretti, M. Victoria

AU - Westoby, Mark

PY - 2008/10

Y1 - 2008/10

N2 - Worldwide decomposition rates depend both on climate and the legacy of plant functional traits as litter quality. To quantify the degree to which functional differentiation among species affects their litter decomposition rates, we brought together leaf trait and litter mass loss data for 818 species from 66 decomposition experiments on six continents. We show that: (i) the magnitude of species-driven differences is much larger than previously thought and greater than climate-driven variation; (ii) the decomposability of a species' litter is consistently correlated with that species' ecological strategy within different ecosystems globally, representing a new connection between whole plant carbon strategy and biogeochemical cycling. This connection between plant strategies and decomposability is crucial for both understanding vegetation-soil feedbacks, and for improving forecasts of the global carbon cycle.

AB - Worldwide decomposition rates depend both on climate and the legacy of plant functional traits as litter quality. To quantify the degree to which functional differentiation among species affects their litter decomposition rates, we brought together leaf trait and litter mass loss data for 818 species from 66 decomposition experiments on six continents. We show that: (i) the magnitude of species-driven differences is much larger than previously thought and greater than climate-driven variation; (ii) the decomposability of a species' litter is consistently correlated with that species' ecological strategy within different ecosystems globally, representing a new connection between whole plant carbon strategy and biogeochemical cycling. This connection between plant strategies and decomposability is crucial for both understanding vegetation-soil feedbacks, and for improving forecasts of the global carbon cycle.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=51249083428&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01219.x

DO - 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01219.x

M3 - Article

C2 - 18627410

AN - SCOPUS:51249083428

SN - 1461-023X

VL - 11

SP - 1065

EP - 1071

JO - Ecology Letters

JF - Ecology Letters

IS - 10

ER -

Plant species traits are the predominant control on litter decomposition rates within biomes worldwide

Abstract

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this