10.5061/DRYAD.460MC
Hoyos-Santillan, Jorge
University of Nottingham
Lomax, Barry H.
University of Nottingham
Turner, Benjamin L.
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Sjögersten, Sofie
University of Nottingham
Data from: Nutrient limitation or home field advantage: does microbial
community adaptation overcome nutrient limitation of litter decomposition
in a tropical peatland?
Dryad
dataset
2018
nutrient dynamics
Raphia taedigera
carbon turnover
Campnosperma panamensis
Holocene
tropical peat
Phosphorus
2018-11-28T00:00:00Z
2018-11-28T00:00:00Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12923
51411 bytes
1
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Litter decomposition is an important control on carbon accumulation in
tropical peatlands. Stoichiometric theory suggests that decomposition is
regulated by elemental ratios in litter while the home field advantage
(HFA) hypothesis predicts that decomposer communities are adapted to local
conditions. To date, the relative importance of these contrasting theories
for litter decomposition and therefore the carbon balance of tropical
peatlands remain poorly understood. We conducted two in situ litter
decomposition experiments in a lowland tropical peatland. The first
experiment tested the importance of the stoichiometric theory using a
factorial nutrient addition experiment at two sites with contrasting
vegetation (Raphia taedigera and Campnosperma panamensis) to assess how
nutrient addition affected microbial enzyme activity and litter mass loss
at the peat surface and at 50 cm depth. The second experiment tested the
importance of HFA by reciprocal translocation of leaf litter from R.
taedigera and C. panamensis forests, which differed in both litter
chemistry and soil nutrient availability, to separate the influence of
litter chemistry and soil/site properties on litter mass loss. The
activities of hydrolytic enzymes involved in the decomposition of large
plant polymers were stimulated by nitrogen addition only where nitrogen
availability was low relative to phosphorus, and were stimulated by
phosphorus addition where phosphorus availability was low. The addition of
nitrogen, but not phosphorus, increased leaf litter decomposition under
waterlogged conditions at 50 cm depth, but not at the peat surface.
Decomposition was greatest for autochthonous litter irrespective of site
nutrient status, indicating that adaptation of the microbial community to
low nutrients can partly overcome nutrient limitation, and suggesting that
HFA can influence litter decomposition rates. Synthesis. Our study shows
that leaf litter decomposition and the activity of microbial enzymes in
tropical peatlands are constrained in part by nutrient availability.
However, such nutrient limitation of litter decomposition can be overcome
by adaptation of the microbial community.
Surface peat nutrient ratios2017 Hoyos et al Surface peat nutrient
ratios.csvLitter nutrient ratios2017 Hoyos et al Litter tissue nutrient
ratios.csvPeat core nutrient ratios2017 Hoyos et al Peat core nutrient
ratios.csvEnzymatic activity2017 Hoyos et al Enzymatic activity.csvLitter
decomposition2017 Hoyos et al Litter decomposition.csvLitter translocation
experiment2017 Hoyos et al Litter translocation experiment.csv
Bocas del Toro
Panama