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\"Fossils document the existence of trees and wood-associated organisms from almost 400 million years ago, and today there are between 400,000 and 1 million wood-inhabiting species in the world. This is the first book to synthesise the natural history and conservation needs of wood-inhabiting organisms. Presenting a thorough introduction to biodiversity in decaying wood, the book studies the rich diversity of fungi, insects and vertebrates that depend upon dead wood. It describes the functional diversity of these organisms and their specific habitat requirements in terms of host trees, decay phases, tree dimensions, microhabitats and the surrounding environment. Recognising the threats posed by timber extraction and forest management, the authors also present management options for protecting and maintaining the diversity of these species in forests as well as in agricultural landscapes and urban parks\"-- Provided by publisher.

Fossils document the existence of trees and wood-associated organisms from almost 400 million years ago, and today there are between 400,000 and 1 million wood-inhabiting species in the world. This is the first book to synthesise the natural history and conservation needs of wood-inhabiting organisms. Presenting a thorough introduction to biodiversity in decaying wood, the book studies the rich diversity of fungi, insects and vertebrates that depend upon dead wood. It describes the functional diversity of these organisms and their specific habitat requirements in terms of host trees, decay phases, tree dimensions, microhabitats and the surrounding environment. Recognising the threats posed by timber extraction and forest management, the authors also present management options for protecting and maintaining the diversity of these species in forests as well as in agricultural landscapes and urban parks.

\"Fossils document the existence of trees and wood-associated organisms from almost 400 million years ago, and today there are between 400,000 and 1 million wood-inhabiting species in the world. This is the first book to synthesize the natural history and conservation needs of wood-inhabiting organisms. Presenting a thorough introduction to biodiversity in decaying wood, the book studies the rich diversity of fungi, insects and vertebrates that depend upon dead wood. It describes the functional diversity of these organisms and their specific habitat requirements in terms of host trees, decay phases, tree dimensions, microhabitats and the surrounding environment. Recognizing the threats posed by timber extraction and forest management, the authors also present management options for protecting and maintaining the diversity of these species in forests as well as in agricultural landscapes and urban parks\"--

We conducted a meta-analysis of previously published empirical studies that have examined the effects of nitrogen (N) enrichment on litter decomposition. Our objective was to provide a synthesis of existing data that comprehensively and quantitatively evaluates how environmental and experimental factors interact with N additions to influence litter mass loss. Nitrogen enrichment, when averaged across all studies, had no statistically significant effect on litter decay. However, we observed significant effects of fertilization rate, site-specific ambient N-deposition level, and litter quality. Litter decomposition was inhibited by N additions when fertilization rates were 2-20 times the anthropogenic Ndeposition level, when ambient N deposition was 5-10 kg N· ha-1· yr-1, or when litter quality was low (typically high-lignin litters). Decomposition was stimulated at field sites exposed to low ambient N deposition (<5 kg N· ha-1· yr-1) and for high-quality (low-lignin) litters. Fertilizer type, litterbag mesh size, and climate did not influence the litter decay response to N additions.

Tropical forests play a substantial role in the global carbon (C) cycle and are projected to experience significant changes in climate, highlighting the importance of understanding the factors that control organic matter decomposition in this biome. In the tropics, high temperature and rainfall lead to some of the highest rates of litter decomposition on earth, and given the near-optimal abiotic conditions, litter quality likely exerts disproportionate control over litter decomposition. Yet interactions between litter quality and abiotic variables, most notably precipitation, remain poorly resolved, especially for the wetter end of the tropical forest biome. We assessed the importance of variation in litter chemistry and precipitation in a lowland tropical rain forest in southwest Costa Rica that receives >5000 mm of precipitation per year, using litter from 11 different canopy tree species in conjunction with a throughfall manipulation experiment. In general, despite the exceptionally high rainfall in this forest, simulated throughfall reductions consistently suppressed rates of litter decomposition. Overall, variation between species was greater than that induced by manipulating throughfall and was best explained by initial litter solubility and lignin:P ratios. Collectively, these results support a model of litter decomposition in which mass loss rates are positively correlated with rainfall up to very high rates of mean annual precipitation and highlight the importance of phosphorus availability in controlling microbial processes in many lowland tropical forests.

Background Nutrient cycle in tropical forests is mainly driven by litter fall amounts and by litter decay due to litter physical and chemical properties. Apart from differences in site conditions, different successional stages of tropical rainforests may influence nutrient inputs to the soil via differences in litter fall and decay. Methods We studied leaf litter fall, decomposition and related nutrient input to the soil in two secondary tropical rainforest types differing in land-use intensity and history in the lowlands of Sumatra (Indonesia). Results Mean annual litter fall was by 29.5% higher in the old than in the young secondary forests. In contrast, annual litter decomposition differed only marginally (54.9% vs. 52.1%) in young vs. old secondary forests. Litter chemical composition (C, N, P, K contents) did not differ between the forest types. Litter decomposition was also not different between the forest types (4.6% vs. 4.3% loss of initial weight per month). Consequently, annual nutrient input to the soil was primarily affected by differences in leaf litter production, thus, old secondary forests exceeded that of young secondary forests by 30% and 24% for C and N, but was not different regaring P and K among the two forest types. Conclusions The results indicate that litter nutrient inputs to the soil in the two types of secondary tropical lowland forests are most strongly influenced by aboveground litter production rather than litter chemical quality or litter decay. We conclude that the restoration status of secondary tropical lowland forests is crucial for the nutrient status of these forest ecosystems.

Forest litter inputs to soil can stimulate the decomposition of older soil organic matter (SOM) via a priming effect (PE). The magnitude and underlying mechanisms driving PE are poorly understood, with especially little know about how litter quality and site conditions affect PE in situ. Further, very few studies have examined PE in tropical and subtropical soils. Here, we established low and high elevation sites (600 vs. 1,400 m a.s.l.) in the subtropical Wuyishan National Park, China, that differed with respect to mean annual temperature (MAT; ∆MAT = 4.2°C), vegetation, soil texture and soil moisture. We conducted a 1‐year field incubation study at these two sites to compare PE induced by adding low‐ and high‐quality 13C‐labelled leaf litter to soils. At the low elevation site, additions of high‐quality (low C/N) litter caused a PE that was 140% greater than the PE observed following additions of low‐quality (high C/N) litter. In contrast, we saw no significant differences in PE between litter types at the high elevation site, perhaps because PE was not limited by substrate quality at this cooler, finer textured and higher soil moisture coniferous site. In addition, we found a negative relationship between home‐field advantage (HFA) for litter decomposition and PE, indicating that specialized litter decomposer community driving HFA may not accelerate SOM decomposition via PE in the same way. In line with our observed strong relationship between PE and the efficiency of priming (PE size per unit of mineralized litter C), PEs induced by the high‐ and low‐quality litters were directed to microbial phosphorus (P) mining rather than nitrogen (N) mining. This interpretation aligns with observed increases in the activity of P acquiring extracellular enzymes, often described as phosphatases (P‐tases), as well as the positive relationship between the PE, P‐tase activity and the activity of C acquiring extracellular enzymes. Overall, this PE study across two contrasting sites highlights the important role of site characteristics and litter quality in regulating PE size. Further, we suggest that MAT may be a dominant driver of soil priming, through both the direct effects of litter quantity on labile substrate supply and the indirect effects of litter quality changes on downstream decomposer communities. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

Aims Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens) is a typical native invasive plant imposing serious threats on ecosystem processes and functions. A primary concern is alterations of litter and soil N mineralization in evergreen broadleaved forests coupled with bamboo population expansion. Methods We conducted a field study to determine the litter production, quality, N resorption efficiency, and soil N mineralization rates in bamboo-dominated forest (BDF) and adjacent uninvaded evergreen broadleaved forest (EBF) in subtropical China. Results The mean annual litter production for BDF was 5.82 Mg ha⁻¹, 36.0 % lower than that for EBF (9.09 Mg ha⁻¹). Litter N concentration was also lower, but C: N was higher after bamboo expansion, coupled with higher N resorption efficiency for Moso bamboo and lower litterfall, resulting in potential N return decreasing as much as 60.41 kg N ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ to the soil. The soil N net nitrification and mineralization rates exhibited lower values in BDF than in EBF. In addition, annual soil N mineralization rate was positively correlated with litter production but negatively with C: N ratio of litter. Conclusions Expansion of bamboo into neighboring EBF decreased litter production and quality, reduced soil N mineralization rate, and ultimately retarded N cycling. These effects should be carefully considered in the design of restoration strategies for ecosystems impacted by bamboo species.

Purpose Large parts of the Amazon rainforest grow on weathered soils depleted in phosphorus and rock-derived cations. We tested the hypothesis that in this ecosystem, fine roots stimulate decomposition and nutrient release from leaf litter biochemically by releasing enzymes, and by exuding labile carbon stimulating microbial decomposers. Methods We monitored leaf litter decomposition in a Central Amazon tropical rainforest, where fine roots were either present or excluded, over 188 days and added labile carbon substrates (glucose and citric acid) in a fully factorial design. We tracked litter mass loss, remaining carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and cation concentrations, extracellular enzyme activity and microbial carbon and nutrient concentrations. Results Fine root presence did not affect litter mass loss but significantly increased the loss of phosphorus and cations from leaf litter. In the presence of fine roots, acid phosphatase activity was 43.2% higher, while neither microbial stoichiometry, nor extracellular enzyme activities targeting carbon- and nitrogen-containing compounds changed. Glucose additions increased phosphorus loss from litter when fine roots were present, and enhanced phosphatase activity in root exclusions. Citric acid additions reduced litter mass loss, microbial biomass nitrogen and phosphorus, regardless of fine root presence or exclusion. Conclusions We conclude that plant roots release significant amounts of acid phosphatases into the litter layer and mobilize phosphorus without affecting litter mass loss. Our results further indicate that added labile carbon inputs ( i.e . glucose) can stimulate acid phosphatase production by microbial decomposers, highlighting the potential importance of plant-microbial feedbacks in tropical forest ecosystems.

Backgrounds and aims Litter protects the underlying soil, depending on litterfall and decomposition, but dynamics of the standing litter stock in agroforestry systems remain poorly understood. We aimed to unravel effects of litter quality, temporal patterns, microclimate, and a possible home-field advantage (HFA) on standing litter dynamics across a land-use gradient. Methods We quantified litterfall, the standing litter stock, and microclimate during a year in (remnant) forest, cacao-based simple and complex agroforestry, cacao monocultures, and annual crops in a cacao producing area in Indonesia. We conducted a reciprocal litter transfer experiment, and tested decomposition rates of pruning residues. Standing litter stocks during the year were estimated from monthly litterfall and decomposition rates. Results Variation in litter quality influenced decomposition rates more strongly than variation in microclimate or HFA. Lower litter quality in complex agroforestry and in the cacao monoculture decreased the decay rate compared to simple agroforestry systems; mean litter residence time was over a year. Mixing high- and low-quality material in pruning residues modified the decomposition rate, soil C and N changes, offering options for targeted management of soil protection and nutrient release. Conclusions The seasonal patterns of litterfall and relatively slow decomposition rates supported permanence of the litter layer in all cacao production systems, protecting the underlying soil.