Stronger effect of litter quality than micro‐organisms on leaf and root litter C and N loss at different decomposition stages following a subtropical land use change

• Published in: Functional ecology Vol. 36; no. 4; pp. 896 - 907
• Main Authors: Liao, Chang, Long, Chunyan, Zhang, Qian, Cheng, Xiaoli
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.04.2022
• Subjects: Agricultural land; carbon; Cellulose; China; Community composition; community structure; Composition effects; cropland; Crops; Decomposition; fine roots; Hemicellulose; Land use; land use change; Leaf litter; Leaves; Lignin; litter carbon and nitrogen loss; litter quality; mass‐loss interval; microbial communities; microbial community composition; Microorganisms; Nitrogen; Phosphorus; plant litter; Plant species; shrublands; Shrubs; Soil investigations; Soils; Species; Stoichiometry; Structural equation modeling; structural equation modelling; wood; woodland soils; Woodlands; China

Litter decomposition contributes largely to global carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling, and it is strongly determined by litter quality and microbial community composition in ways that are poorly understood. Here, we conducted a 2‐year field litter decomposition experiment by collecting leaf and roo...