caa a22 4500 606220100 CHVBK 20210128101122.0 cr unu---uuuuu 210128e20150901xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s11104-015-2511-8 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s11104-015-2511-8 Isolating the effects of precipitation, soil conditions, and litter quality on leaf litter decomposition in lowland tropical forests [Elektronische Daten] [Sarah Dale, Benjamin Turner, Richard Bardgett] Background and aims: Global change drivers such as climate change influence decomposition by altering extrinsic site conditions and intrinsic litter traits. This study aimed to quantify the relative importance of these two pathways for litter decomposition in tropical forests. Methods: The effects of soil nutrient availability, mean annual precipitation (MAP), and leaf litter chemistry on decomposition were isolated by measuring mass loss of leaf litter from 10 tropical tree species transplanted to 19 sites along independent gradients of soil fertility and precipitation in Panama. Across species, litter nitrogen (N) content ranged from 7.1 to 13mgNg−1 and phosphorus (P) from 0.077 to 0.56mg P g−1. Across sites, soil N content ranged from 1.7 to 5.5gNkg−1, soil P from 77 to 1500mg P kg−1, and MAP from 1900 to 2700mm. Results: Variation in leaf litter mass loss was explained largely by litter species identity (55%). Site only explained a small, but significant, amount of variance (6.5%); soil C:N ratio explained this response. Notably, neither litter nutrient content nor MAP were significant predictors of litter decomposition. Conclusions: Changes in tree species composition may influence decomposition rates more than changes to site conditions. Springer International Publishing Switzerland, 2015 Litter chemistry nationallicence Litter decomposition nationallicence Panama nationallicence Rainfall nationallicence Soil chemistry nationallicence Tropical rain forest nationallicence Dale Sarah Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, LA1 4YW, Lancaster, UK aut Turner Benjamin Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama aut Bardgett Richard Michael Smith Building, Faculty of Life Sciences, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, M139PT, Manchester, UK aut Plant and Soil Springer International Publishing 394/1-2(2015-09-01), 225-238 0032-079X 394:1-2<225 2015 394 11104 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-015-2511-8 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-015-2511-8 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Dale Sarah Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, LA1 4YW, Lancaster, UK aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Turner Benjamin Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Bardgett Richard Michael Smith Building, Faculty of Life Sciences, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, M139PT, Manchester, UK aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Plant and Soil Springer International Publishing 394/1-2(2015-09-01), 225-238 0032-079X 394:1-2<225 2015 394 11104