Fortunel, Claire, Eric Garnier, Richard Joffre, Elena Kazakou, Helen Quested, Karl Grigulis, Sandra Lavorel, Pauline Ansquer, Helena Castro, Pablo Cruz, Jiří Doležal, Ove Eriksson, Helena Freitas, Carly Golodets, Claire Jouany, Jaime Kigel, Michael Kleyer, Veiko Lehsten, Jan Lepš, Tonia Meier, Robin Pakeman, Maria Papadimitriou, Vasilios P. Papanastasis, Fabien Quétier, Matt Robson, Marcelo Sternberg, Jean-Pierre Theau, Aurélie Thébault, and Maria Zarovali. 2009. Leaf traits capture the effects of land use changes and climate on litter decomposability of grasslands across Europe. Ecology 90:598–611.
[doi:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/08-0418.1]
Articles
Leaf traits capture the effects of land use changes and climate on litter decomposability of grasslands across Europe
Claire Fortunel1,12, Eric Garnier1, Richard Joffre1, Elena Kazakou1,13, Helen Quested2, Karl Grigulis3, Sandra Lavorel3, Pauline Ansquer4, Helena Castro5, Pablo Cruz4, Jiří Doležal6,14, Ove Eriksson2, Helena Freitas5, Carly Golodets7, Claire Jouany4, Jaime Kigel7, Michael Kleyer8, Veiko Lehsten8, Jan Lepš6, Tonia Meier8, Robin Pakeman9, Maria Papadimitriou10, Vasilios P. Papanastasis10, Fabien Quétier3, Matt Robson3, Marcelo Sternberg11, Jean-Pierre Theau4, Aurélie Thébault3, and Maria Zarovali10 1Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, CNRS (UMR 5175), 1919 Route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier Cedex 5, France
2Department of Botany, Stockholm University, Stockholm, 106 91, Sweden
3Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine (UMR CNRS-UJF 5553) and Station Alpine Joseph Fourier (UMS CNRS-UJF 2925), Université Joseph Fourier, BP 53, F-38041 Grenoble, Cedex 9, France
4UMR 1248 ARCHE, Equipe ORPHEE, INRA, BP 52627, 31326 Castanet-Tolosan, France
5Department of Botany, University of Coimbra, 3000 Coimbra, Portugal
6University of South Bohemia, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Botany Department, Na Sadkach 7, Ceske Budejovice 37005, Czech Republic
7Institute of Plant Sciences and Genetics in Agriculture, Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot 76100, Israel
8Landscape Ecology Group, University of Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany
9Macaulay Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen AB15 8QH United Kingdom
10Laboratory of Rangeland Ecology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece
11Department of Plant Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
Land use and climate changes induce shifts in plant functional diversity and community structure, thereby modifying ecosystem processes. This is particularly true for litter decomposition, an essential process in the biogeochemical cycles of carbon and nutrients. In this study, we asked whether changes in functional traits of living leaves in response to changes in land use and climate were related to rates of litter potential decomposition, hereafter denoted litter decomposability, across a range of 10 contrasting sites.
To disentangle the different control factors on litter decomposition, we conducted a microcosm experiment to determine the decomposability under standard conditions of litters collected in herbaceous communities from Europe and Israel. We tested how environmental factors (disturbance and climate) affected functional traits of living leaves and how these traits then modified litter quality and subsequent litter decomposability.
Litter decomposability appeared proximately linked to initial litter quality, with particularly clear negative correlations with lignin-dependent indices (litter lignin concentration, lignin : nitrogen ratio, and fiber component).
Litter quality was directly related to community-weighted mean traits. Lignin-dependent indices of litter quality were positively correlated with community-weighted mean leaf dry matter content (LDMC), and negatively correlated with community-weighted mean leaf nitrogen concentration (LNC). Consequently, litter decomposability was correlated negatively with community-weighted mean LDMC, and positively with community-weighted mean LNC.
Environmental factors (disturbance and climate) influenced community-weighted mean traits. Plant communities experiencing less frequent or less intense disturbance exhibited higher community-weighted mean LDMC, and therefore higher litter lignin content and slower litter decomposability. LDMC therefore appears as a powerful marker of both changes in land use and of the pace of nutrient cycling across 10 contrasting sites.
Keywords: climate, community functional parameters, disturbance, leaf traits, litter decomposability, litter quality
Received: February 28, 2008; Revised: June 20, 2008; Accepted: June 23, 2008
12 Present address: INRA Kourou, UMR EcoFoG, BP 709, 97387 Kourou Cedex, French Guiana. E-mail: claire.fortunel@ecofog.gf
13 Present address: Département Protection des Plantes et Ecologie, SupAgro Montpellier, Place Viala, 34060 Montpellier Cedex 1, France.
14 Present address: Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, Dukelská 135, CZ-379 82 Třeboň, Czech Republic.
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