Can the biomass-ratio hypothesis predict mixed-species litter decomposition along a climatic gradient?

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

The biomass-ratio hypothesis states that ecosystem properties are driven by the characteristics of dominant species in the community. In this study, the hypothesis was operationalized as community-weighted means (CWMs) of monoculture values and tested for predicting the decomposition of multispecies litter mixtures along an abiotic gradient in the field.

Methods

Decomposition rates (mg g(-1) d(-1)) of litter from four herb species were measured using litter-bed experiments with the same soil at three sites in central France along a correlated climatic gradient of temperature and precipitation. All possible combinations from one to four species mixtures were tested over 28 weeks of incubation. Observed mixture decomposition rates were compared with those p

SUBMITTER: Tardif A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3962238 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature