REAL

Litter quality and temperature modulate microbial diversity effects on decomposition in model experiments

Bonanomi, G. and Capodilupo, M. and Incerti, G. and Mazzoleni, S. and Scala, F. (2015) Litter quality and temperature modulate microbial diversity effects on decomposition in model experiments. Community Ecology, 16 (2). pp. 167-177. ISSN 1585-8553

[img]
Preview
Text
168.2015.16.2.4.pdf

Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

The consequences of decline in biodiversity for ecosystem functioning is a major concern in soil ecology. Recent research efforts have been mostly focused on terrestrial plants, while, despite their importance in ecosystems, little is known about soil microbial communities. This work aims at investigating the effects of fungal and bacterial species richness on the dynamics of leaf litter decomposition. Synthetic microbial communities with species richness ranging from 1 to 64 were assembled in laboratory microcosms and used in three factorial experiments of decomposition. Thereafter, the functionality of the different microcosms was determined by measuring their capability to decompose materials with different chemical properties, including two species of litter (Quercus ilex L. and Hedera helix L.), cellulose strips and woody sticks. Incubation was done in microcosms at two temperatures (12°C and 24°C) for 120 days. The number of microbial species inoculated in the microcosms positively affected decomposition rates of Q. ilex and H. helix litters, while relationships found for cellulose and wood were not statistically significant. Diversity effect was greater at higher incubation temperature. We found lower variability of decay rates in microcosms with higher inoculated species richness of microbial communities. Our study pointed out that the relationships between inoculum microbial diversity and litter decomposition is dependent on temperature and litter quality. Therefore, the loss of microbial species may adversely affects ecosystem functionality under specific environmental conditions.

Item Type: Article
Subjects: Q Science / természettudomány > QH Natural history / természetrajz > QH540 Ecology / ökológia
Depositing User: Ágnes Sallai
Date Deposited: 27 Jul 2016 08:44
Last Modified: 31 Dec 2016 00:16
URI: http://real.mtak.hu/id/eprint/38079

Actions (login required)

Edit Item Edit Item