Tropical tree species composition affects the oxidation of dissolved organic matter from litter

William R. Wieder; Cory C. Cleveland; Alan R. Townsend

doi:10.1007/s10533-008-9200-0

Tropical tree species composition affects the oxidation of dissolved organic matter from litter

William R. Wieder
, Cory C. Cleveland
, Alan R. Townsend

W. A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation

University of Colorado Boulder

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

64 Scopus citations

Abstract

Plant species effects on soil nutrient availability are relatively well documented, but the effects of species differences in litter chemistry on soil carbon cycling are less well understood, especially in the species-rich tropics. In many wet tropical forest ecosystems, leaching of dissolved organic matter (DOM) from the litter layer accounts for a significant proportion of litter mass loss during decomposition. Here we investigated how tree species differences in soluble dissolved organic C (DOC) and nutrients affected soil CO₂ fluxes in laboratory incubations. We leached DOM from freshly fallen litter of six canopy tree species collected from a tropical rain forest in Costa Rica and measured C-mineralization. We found significant differences in litter solubility and nutrient availability. Following DOM additions to soil, rates of heterotrophic respiration varied by as much as an order of magnitude between species, and overall differences in total soil CO₂ efflux varied by more than four-fold. Variation in the carbon: phosphorus ratio accounted for 51% of the variation in total CO₂ flux between species. These results suggest that tropical tree species composition may influence soil C storage and mineralization via inter-specific variation in plant litter chemistry.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	127-138
Number of pages	12
Journal	Biogeochemistry
Volume	88
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-008-9200-0
State	Published - Apr 2008

Funding

Acknowledgments We thank H. and M. Michaud of the Drake Bay Wilderness Camp for providing field access and logistical support in Costa Rica, and Francisco Campos and the Organización para Estudios Tropicales (OET) and the Ministerio de Ambiente y Energia (MINAE) in Costa Rica for assisting with research permits and logistics. We are grateful to Daniel Liptzin and Matthew Miller for valuable discussions and insight during the experimental design and data analysis. We appreciate comments on the manuscript made by Nataly Ascarrunz and two anonymous reviewers. This work was supported by National Science Foundation (NSF) Grant DEB-0515744 (to A.R.T. and C.·C.C).

Funder number
DEB-0515744

Keywords

Carbon
Decomposition
Dissolved organic matter
Nutrient limitation
Soil respiration
Species composition

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10.1007/s10533-008-9200-0

Cite this

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title = "Tropical tree species composition affects the oxidation of dissolved organic matter from litter",

abstract = "Plant species effects on soil nutrient availability are relatively well documented, but the effects of species differences in litter chemistry on soil carbon cycling are less well understood, especially in the species-rich tropics. In many wet tropical forest ecosystems, leaching of dissolved organic matter (DOM) from the litter layer accounts for a significant proportion of litter mass loss during decomposition. Here we investigated how tree species differences in soluble dissolved organic C (DOC) and nutrients affected soil CO2 fluxes in laboratory incubations. We leached DOM from freshly fallen litter of six canopy tree species collected from a tropical rain forest in Costa Rica and measured C-mineralization. We found significant differences in litter solubility and nutrient availability. Following DOM additions to soil, rates of heterotrophic respiration varied by as much as an order of magnitude between species, and overall differences in total soil CO2 efflux varied by more than four-fold. Variation in the carbon: phosphorus ratio accounted for 51\% of the variation in total CO2 flux between species. These results suggest that tropical tree species composition may influence soil C storage and mineralization via inter-specific variation in plant litter chemistry.",

keywords = "Carbon, Decomposition, Dissolved organic matter, Nutrient limitation, Soil respiration, Species composition",

author = "Wieder, \{William R.\} and Cleveland, \{Cory C.\} and Townsend, \{Alan R.\}",

note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgments We thank H. and M. Michaud of the Drake Bay Wilderness Camp for providing field access and logistical support in Costa Rica, and Francisco Campos and the Organizaci{\'o}n para Estudios Tropicales (OET) and the Ministerio de Ambiente y Energia (MINAE) in Costa Rica for assisting with research permits and logistics. We are grateful to Daniel Liptzin and Matthew Miller for valuable discussions and insight during the experimental design and data analysis. We appreciate comments on the manuscript made by Nataly Ascarrunz and two anonymous reviewers. This work was supported by National Science Foundation (NSF) Grant DEB-0515744 (to A.R.T. and C.·C.C).",

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doi = "10.1007/s10533-008-9200-0",

language = "English",

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AU - Wieder, William R.

AU - Cleveland, Cory C.

AU - Townsend, Alan R.

N1 - Funding Information: Acknowledgments We thank H. and M. Michaud of the Drake Bay Wilderness Camp for providing field access and logistical support in Costa Rica, and Francisco Campos and the Organización para Estudios Tropicales (OET) and the Ministerio de Ambiente y Energia (MINAE) in Costa Rica for assisting with research permits and logistics. We are grateful to Daniel Liptzin and Matthew Miller for valuable discussions and insight during the experimental design and data analysis. We appreciate comments on the manuscript made by Nataly Ascarrunz and two anonymous reviewers. This work was supported by National Science Foundation (NSF) Grant DEB-0515744 (to A.R.T. and C.·C.C).

PY - 2008/4

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N2 - Plant species effects on soil nutrient availability are relatively well documented, but the effects of species differences in litter chemistry on soil carbon cycling are less well understood, especially in the species-rich tropics. In many wet tropical forest ecosystems, leaching of dissolved organic matter (DOM) from the litter layer accounts for a significant proportion of litter mass loss during decomposition. Here we investigated how tree species differences in soluble dissolved organic C (DOC) and nutrients affected soil CO2 fluxes in laboratory incubations. We leached DOM from freshly fallen litter of six canopy tree species collected from a tropical rain forest in Costa Rica and measured C-mineralization. We found significant differences in litter solubility and nutrient availability. Following DOM additions to soil, rates of heterotrophic respiration varied by as much as an order of magnitude between species, and overall differences in total soil CO2 efflux varied by more than four-fold. Variation in the carbon: phosphorus ratio accounted for 51% of the variation in total CO2 flux between species. These results suggest that tropical tree species composition may influence soil C storage and mineralization via inter-specific variation in plant litter chemistry.

AB - Plant species effects on soil nutrient availability are relatively well documented, but the effects of species differences in litter chemistry on soil carbon cycling are less well understood, especially in the species-rich tropics. In many wet tropical forest ecosystems, leaching of dissolved organic matter (DOM) from the litter layer accounts for a significant proportion of litter mass loss during decomposition. Here we investigated how tree species differences in soluble dissolved organic C (DOC) and nutrients affected soil CO2 fluxes in laboratory incubations. We leached DOM from freshly fallen litter of six canopy tree species collected from a tropical rain forest in Costa Rica and measured C-mineralization. We found significant differences in litter solubility and nutrient availability. Following DOM additions to soil, rates of heterotrophic respiration varied by as much as an order of magnitude between species, and overall differences in total soil CO2 efflux varied by more than four-fold. Variation in the carbon: phosphorus ratio accounted for 51% of the variation in total CO2 flux between species. These results suggest that tropical tree species composition may influence soil C storage and mineralization via inter-specific variation in plant litter chemistry.

KW - Carbon

KW - Decomposition

KW - Dissolved organic matter

KW - Nutrient limitation

KW - Soil respiration

KW - Species composition

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/44449083687

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DO - 10.1007/s10533-008-9200-0

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:44449083687

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VL - 88

SP - 127

EP - 138

JO - Biogeochemistry

JF - Biogeochemistry

IS - 2

ER -

Tropical tree species composition affects the oxidation of dissolved organic matter from litter

Abstract

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Keywords

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