Repository logo

Infoscience

  • English
  • French
Log In
Logo EPFL, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne

Infoscience

  • English
  • French
Log In
  1. Home
  2. Academic and Research Output
  3. Journal articles
  4. Litter- and ecosystem-driven decomposition under elevated CO2 and enhanced N deposition in a Sphagnum peatland
 
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
research article

Litter- and ecosystem-driven decomposition under elevated CO2 and enhanced N deposition in a Sphagnum peatland

Siegenthaler, A.  
•
Buttler, A.  
•
Bragazza, L.  
Show more
2010
Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Peatlands represent massive global C pools and sinks. Carbon accumulation depends on the ratio between net primary production and decomposition, both of which can change under projected increases of atmospheric CO2 and N deposition. The decomposition of litter is influenced by 1) the quality of the litter, and 2) the microenvironmental conditions in which the litter decomposes. This study aims at experimentally testing the effects of these two drivers in the context of global change. We studied the in situ litter decomposition from three common peatland species (Eriophorum vaginatum, Polytrichum strictum and Sphagnum fallax) collected after one year of litter production under pre-treatment conditions (elevated CO2: 560†ppm or enhanced N: 3†g†m-2†y-1 NH4NO3) and decomposed the following year under treatment conditions (same as pre-treatment). By considering the cross-effects between pre-treatments and treatments, we distinguished between the effects on mass loss of 1) the pre-treatment-induced litter quality and 2) the treatment conditions under which the litters were decomposing. The combination between CO2 pre-treatment and CO2 treatment reduced Polytrichum decomposition by -24% and this can be explained by litter quality-driven decomposition changes brought by the pre-treatment. CO2 pre-treatment reduced Eriophorum litter quality, although this was not sufficient to predict decomposition. The N addition pre-treatment reduced the decomposition of Eriophorum, due to enhanced lignin and soluble phenols concentrations in the initial litter, and reduced litter-driven losses of starch and enhanced litter-driven losses of soluble phenols. While decomposition indices based on initial litter quality provide a broad explanation of quantitative and qualitative decomposition, they can only be taken as first approximations. Indeed, the microbial ATP activity, the litter N loss and resulting litter quality, were strongly altered irrespective of the compounds' initial concentration and by means of processes that occurred independently of the initial litter-qualitative changes. The experimental design was valuable to assess litter- and ecosystem-driven decomposition pathways simultaneously or independently. The ability to separate these two drivers makes it possible to attest the presence of litter-qualitative changes even without any litter biochemical determinations, and shows the screening potential of this approach for future experiments dealing with multiple plant species.

  • Details
  • Metrics
Type
research article
DOI
10.1016/j.soilbio.2010.02.016
Web of Science ID

WOS:000277814700013

Author(s)
Siegenthaler, A.  
•
Buttler, A.  
•
Bragazza, L.  
•
Van der Heijden, E.
•
Grosvernier, P.
•
Gobat, J.-M.
•
Mitchell, EAD
Date Issued

2010

Publisher

Elsevier

Published in
Soil Biology and Biochemistry
Volume

42

Issue

6

Start page

968

End page

977

Subjects

Litter quality and decomposition

•

Global change Peatlands

•

Sphagnum fallax

•

Eriophorum vaginatum

•

Polytrichum strictum

•

Elevated CO2

•

Enhanced N deposition

•

Carbon based secondary compounds

•

Microbial activity

Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
ECOS  
Available on Infoscience
April 15, 2010
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/49476
Logo EPFL, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne
  • Contact
  • infoscience@epfl.ch

  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • Follow us on LinkedIn
  • Follow us on X
  • Follow us on Youtube
AccessibilityLegal noticePrivacy policyCookie settingsEnd User AgreementGet helpFeedback

Infoscience is a service managed and provided by the Library and IT Services of EPFL. © EPFL, tous droits réservés