One plus one is greater than two: mixing litter types accelerates decomposition of low-quality alpine dwarf shrub litter

• DOI: 10.1007/s11104-019-03991-5
• Publication Date: 2019-03-21T08:18:01Z
• Authors: Michael Steinwandter; Birgit C. Schlick...; Florian M. Steiner; Julia Seeber
• Keywords: Litter; Plant litter

Litter decomposition patterns, non-additive effects, and spectral data of abundant alpine leaf litters were assessed in litterbag experiments containing single species mixtures. We tested if low-quality shrub litter decomposes faster mixtures with high-quality predictions on decomposed using are feasible. Chemical physical traits near-infrared reflectance (NIR) spectra six freshly fallen types measured. A experiment (0.1 mm mesh size) 2- 3-species was conducted three from functional groups (shrub, grass, forb). Decomposition rates, mass loss, NIR recorded after 6, 12, 24 months. The differed significantly spectra. rates steadily slowed during the months, having lowest all sampling dates. In mixtures, grass showed higher 12 months compared single-species treatments. accelerated indicates stimulating interactions between low- types, most probably mediated by their associated microbiomes. By spectra, we successfully predicted initial traits, but only total carbon content along entire period.