Non-symbiotic nitrogen fixation during leaf litter decomposition in an old-growth temperate rain forest of Chiloé Island, southern Chile: Effects of singleversusmixed species litter

2010 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 148-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
CECILIA A. PÉREZ ◽  
MARTÍN R. CARMONA ◽  
JUAN J. ARMESTO
Keyword(s):  
Nitrogen Fixation ◽  
Leaf Litter ◽  
Litter Decomposition ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation ◽  
Leaf Litter Decomposition ◽  
Southern Chile ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
Temperate Rain Forest

scholarly journals Plant herbivory responses through changes in leaf quality have no effect on subsequent leaf‐litter decomposition in a neotropical rain forest tree community

2015 ◽  
Vol 207 (3) ◽  
pp. 817-829 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafael E. Cárdenas ◽  
Stephan Hättenschwiler ◽  
Renato Valencia ◽  
Adriana Argoti ◽  
Olivier Dangles
Keyword(s):  
Leaf Litter ◽  
Litter Decomposition ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
Forest Tree ◽  
Leaf Litter Decomposition ◽  
Leaf Quality ◽  
Tree Community ◽  
Neotropical Rain Forest

Ants accelerate litter decomposition in a Costa Rican lowland tropical rain forest

2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 437-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terrence P. McGlynn ◽  
Evan K. Poirson
Keyword(s):  
Mass Loss ◽  
Leaf Litter ◽  
Litter Decomposition ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
Costa Rican ◽  
Tropical Rain Forests ◽  
Rain Forests ◽  
Food Web Structure ◽  
Litter Bags ◽  
Lowland Rain Forest

Abstract:The decomposition of leaf litter is governed, in part, by litter invertebrates. In tropical rain forests, ants are dominant predators in the leaf litter and may alter litter decomposition through the action of a top-down control of food web structure. The role of ants in litter decomposition was investigated in a Costa Rican lowland rain forest with two experiments. In a mesocosm experiment, we manipulated ant presence in 50 ambient leaf-litter mesocosms. In a litterbag gradient experiment, Cecropia obtusifolia litter was used to measure decomposition rate constants across gradients in nutrients, ant density and richness, with 27 separate litterbag treatments for total arthropod exclusion or partial arthropod exclusion. After 2 mo, mass loss in mesocosms containing ants was 30.9%, significantly greater than the 23.5% mass loss in mesocosms without ants. In the litter bags with all arthropods excluded, decomposition was best accounted by the carbon: phosphorus content of soil (r2 = 0.41). In litter bags permitting smaller arthropods but excluding ants, decomposition was best explained by the local biomass of ants in the vicinity of the litter bags (r2 = 0.50). Once the microarthropod prey of ants are permitted to enter litterbags, the biomass of ants near the litterbags overtakes soil chemistry as the regulator of decomposition. In concert, these results support a working hypothesis that litter-dwelling ants are responsible for accelerating litter decomposition in lowland tropical rain forests.

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