Importance of overstorey attributes for understorey litter production and nutrient cycling in European forests.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In contrast with the negligible contribution of the forest understorey to the total aboveground phytobiomass of a forest, its share in annual litter production and nutrient cycling may be more important. Whether and how this functional role of the understorey differs across forest types and depends upon overstorey characteristics remains to be investigated.

Methods

We sampled 209 plots of the FunDivEUROPE Exploratory Platform, a network of study plots covering local gradients of tree diversity spread over six contrasting forest types in Europe. To estimate the relative contribution of the understorey to carbon and nutrient cycling, we sampled non-lignified aboveground understorey biomass and overstorey leaf litterfall in all plots. Understorey samples were analyse

SUBMITTER: Landuyt D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7357776 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature