Human activities shape global patterns of decomposition rates in rivers

• DOI: 10.1126/science.adn1262
• Publication Date: 2024-05-30T18:00:55Z
• Authors: S. D. Tiegs; K. A. Capps; D. M. Costello; J. P. Schmidt; C. J. Patrick; J. J. Follstad Shah; C. J. LeRoy; ; Vicenç Acuña; Ricardo Albariño; Daniel C. Allen; Cecilia Alonso; Patricio Andino; Clay Arango; Jukka Aroviita; Marcus V.M. Barbosa; Leon A. Barmuta; Colden Baxter; Brent Bellinger; Luz Boyero; Lyubov Bragina; Lee E. Brown; Andreas Bruder; Denise A. Bruesewitz; Francis Burdon; Marcos Callisto; Antonio Camacho; Cristina Canhoto; María M. Castillo; Eric Chauvet; Joanne Clapcott; Fanny Colas; Checo Colón-Gaud; Julien Cornut; Verónica Crespo-P...; Wyatt F. Cross; Joseph Culp; Michael Danger; Olivier Dangles; Elvira de Eyto; Alison M. Derry; Veronica Díaz Vil...; Michael M. Douglas; Arturo Elosegi; Andrea C. Encalada; Sally Entrekin; Rodrigo Espinosa; Verónica Ferreira; Carmen Ferriol; Kyla M. Flanagan; Alexander S. Flecker; Tadeusz Fleituch; André Frainer; Nikolai Friberg; Paul C. Frost; Erica A. Garcia; Liliana García-Lago; Pavel Ernesto Gar...; Mark O. Gessner; Sudeep Ghate; Darren P. Giling; Alan Gilmer; José Francisco Go...; Rosario Karina Go...; Manuel A.S. Graça; Mike Grace; Natalie A. Griffiths; Hans-Peter Grossart; François Guérold; Vlad Gulis; Pablo E. Gutiérre...; Luiz U. Hepp; Scott Higgins; Takuo Hishi; Joseph Huddart; John Hudson; Moss Imberger; Carlos Iñiguez-Ar...; Mark W. Isken; Tomoya Iwata; David J. Janetski; Andrea E. Kirkwood; Aaron A. Koning; Sarian Kosten; Kevin A. Kuehn; Hjalmar Laudon; Peter R. Leavitt; Aurea L Lemes da ...; Shawn Leroux; Peter J. Lisi; Richard MacKenzie; Amy M. Marcarelli; Frank O. Masese; Peter B. McIntyre; Brendan G. McKie; Adriana Medeiros; Kristian Meissner; Marko Miliša; Shailendra Mishra; Yo Miyake; Ashley Moerke; Shorok Mombrikotb; Rob Mooney; Timothy Moulton; Timo Muotka; Junjiro Negishi; Vinicius Neres-Lima; Mika L. Nieminen; Jorge Nimptsch; Jakub Ondruch; Riku Paavola; Isabel Pardo; Edwin T.H.M. Peeters; Jesus Pozo; Aaron Prussian; Estefania Quenta; Brian Reid; John S. Richardson; Anna Rigosi; José Rincón; Geta Risnoveanu; Christopher T. Ro...; Lorena Rodríguez-...; Todd V. Royer; James A. Rusak; Anna C. Santamans; Géza B. Selmeczy; Gelas Simiyu; Agnija Skuja; Jerzy Smykla; Ryan Sponseller; Kandikere R. Sridhar; Aaron Stoler; Christopher M. Swan; Franco Teixeira d...; Jonathan D. Tonkin; Sari Uusheimo; Allison M. Veach; Sirje Vilbaste; Lena B.-M. Vought; Chiao-Ping Wang; Jackson R. Webster; Paul B. Wilson; Stefan Woelfl; Guy Woodward; Marguerite A. Xen...; Adam G. Yates; Chihiro Yoshimura; Catherine M. Yule; Yixin Zhang; Jacob A. Zwart
• Keywords: [SDE] Environmental Sciences; 570; 0303 health sciences; Ecology; 3103 Ecology; Veterinary and Food Sciences; 3007 Forestry Sciences; 577; CELLDEX Consortium‡; CELLDEX Consortium; 30 Agricultural; 03 medical and health sciences; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; Life Science; 31 Biological Sciences

Rivers and streams contribute to global carbon cycling by decomposing immense quantities of terrestrial plant matter. However, decomposition rates are highly variable and large-scale patterns and drivers of this process remain poorly understood. Using a cellulose-based assay to reflect the primary constituent of plant detritus, we generated a predictive model (81% variance explained) for cellulose decomposition rates across 514 globally distributed streams. A large number of variables were important for predicting decomposition, highlighting the complexity of this process at the global scale. Predicted cellulose decomposition rates, when combined with genus-level litter quality attributes, explain published leaf litter decomposition rates with high accuracy (70% variance explained). Our global map provides estimates of rates across vast understudied areas of Earth and reveals rapid decomposition across continental-scale areas dominated by human activities.