Factors controlling seasonality in leaf-litter breakdown in a Mediterranean stream

Autor: Anna M. Romaní, Arturo Elosegi, Juanita Mora-Gómez, Esther Mas-Martí
Rok vydání: 2015
Předmět:
Zdroj: Freshwater Science. 34:1245-1258
ISSN: 2161-9565
2161-9549
DOI: 10.1086/683120
Popis: Litter breakdown is a pivotal ecosystem function in headwater streams, where it fuels food webs and controls C flux. Breakdown rates depend on environmental characteristics and can display strong seasonal variation, particularly in intermittent streams. To identify the environmental factors driving seasonality of litter breakdown, we ran 5 breakdown experiments with poplar leaves during the wet phase (November–August) in a 3rd-order intermittent Mediterranean stream. We assessed the contribution of decomposers and detritivores to total breakdown seasonality by measuring total (coarse-bag) and microbial (fine-bag) breakdown and estimating invertebrate-mediated breakdown rates (difference between coarse and fine mesh). Breakdown rates (k) increased from autumn to early summer when expressed as k/d and decreased during the drying phase. However, when expressed k/degree-day (dd), rates peaked in early spring and subsequently decreased. The high fine-mesh/coarse-mesh ratio (0.70) indicated that microbe...
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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