Microclimate explains little variation in year-round decomposition across an Arctic tundra landscape
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Litter decomposition represents a major path for atmospheric carbon influx into Arctic soils, thereby controlling below-ground carbon accumulation. Yet, little is known about how tundra litter decomposition varies with microenvironmental conditions, hindering accurate projections of tundra soil carbon dynamics with future climate change. Over 14 months, we measured landscape-scale decomposition of two contrasting standard litter types (Green tea and Rooibos tea) in 90 plots covering gradients of micro-climate and -topography, vegetation cover and traits, and soil characteristics in Western Greenland. We used the tea bag index (TBI) protocol to estimate relative variation in litter mass loss, decomposition rate (k) and stabilisation factor (S) across space, and structural equation modelling (SEM) to identify relationships among environmental factors and decomposition. Contrasting our expectations, microenvironmental factors explained little of the observed variation in both litter mass loss, as well as k and S, suggesting that the variables included in our study were not the major controls of decomposer activity in the soil across the studied tundra landscape. We use these unexpected findings of our study combined with findings from the current literature to discuss future avenues for improving our understanding of the drivers of tundra decomposition and, ultimately, carbon cycling across the warming Arctic.
Originalsprog | Engelsk |
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Artikelnummer | e04062 |
Bogserie | Nordic Journal of Botany |
Vol/bind | 2024 |
Udgave nummer | 3 |
Antal sider | 14 |
ISSN | 0107-055X |
DOI | |
Status | Udgivet - 2024 |
Bibliografisk note
Funding Information:
– JvO, JJA, UAT and SN were supported through a grant by the Independent Research Fund of Denmark (Danmarks Frie Forskningsfond, grant 7027‐00133B to SN). JvO also thanks for fieldwork support from the Ingeniør Svend G. Fiedler og Hustrus scholarship, and from William Demand Fund (grant 19‐1888). ADB was supported through EU INTERACT, as well as the British Ecological Society (grant SR21\100385), the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (FFL21‐0194) and the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (WAF 2019.0202). SN considers this work a contribution to the European Union's Horizon 2020 programme (CHARTER project, Grant Agreement No. 869471). We also thank the team at the Arctic Station on Disko Island for technical and logistic support.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Authors. Oikos published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Nordic Society Oikos.
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