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Journal of Plant Ecology Advance Access originally published online on March 13, 2008
Journal of Plant Ecology 2008 1(2):85-93; doi:10.1093/jpe/rtn002
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Botanical Society of China. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Rates of litter decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems: global patterns and controlling factors

Deqiang Zhang1,2, Dafeng Hui2,3, Yiqi Luo2,* and Guoyi Zhou1

1 South China Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China
2 Department of Botany and Microbiology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USA
3 Department of Biological Sciences, Tennessee State University, 3500 John A. Merritt Blvd. Nashville, Tennessee 37209, USA

* Correspondence address: Department of Botany and Microbiology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USA; Tel: 405-325-1651; Fax: 405-325-7619; E-mail: yluo{at}ou.edu

Aims: We aim to construct a comprehensive global database of litter decomposition rate (k value) estimated by surface floor litterbags, and investigate the direct and indirect effects of impact factors such as geographic factors (latitude and altitude), climatic factors (mean annual tempePlrature, MAT; mean annual precipitation, MAP) and litter quality factors (the contents of N, P, K, Ca, Mg and C:N ratio, lignin:N ratio) on litter decomposition.

Methods: We compiled a large data set of litter decomposition rates (k values) from 110 research sites and conducted simple, multiple regression and path analyses to explore the relationship between the k values and impact factors at the global scale.

Important findings: The k values tended to decrease with latitude (LAT) and lignin content (LIGN) of litter but increased with temperature, precipitation and nutrient concentrations at the large spatial scale. Single factor such as climate, litter quality and geographic variable could not explain litter decomposition rates well. However, the combination of total nutrient (TN) elements and C:N accounted for 70.2% of the variation in the litter decomposition rates. The combination of LAT, MAT, C:N and TN accounted for 87.54% of the variation in the litter decomposition rates. These results indicate that litter quality is the most important direct regulator of litter decomposition at the global scale. This data synthesis revealed significant relationships between litter decomposition rates and the combination of climatic factor (MAT) and litter quality (C:N, TN). The global-scale empirical relationships developed here are useful for a better understanding and modeling of the effects of litter quality and climatic factors on litter decomposition rates.

Keywords: climatic factors • geographic factors • litter decomposition rate • litter quality • path analysis • terrestrial ecosystems


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