1. Latitude Dictates Plant Diversity Effects on Instream Decomposition
- Author
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Naiara López-Rojo, Tadeusz Fleituch, Daichi Imazawa, Angela R. Shaffer, Luz Boyero, Manuel A. S. Graça, Ian C. Campbell, Timo Muotka, Luiz Ubiratan Hepp, Renato Tavares Martins, Cang Hui, Francis J. Burdon, Richard Marchant, Erica A. Garcia, Jen A. Middleton, Claudia Serrano, Leah S. Beesley, Monika Degebrodt, Paul S. Giller, Eric Chauvet, John S. Richardson, Sergio Gómez, Megan Camden, María Elisa Díaz, Robert O. Hall, Andrea Landeira-Dabarca, Bradley J. Cardinale, Tomoya Iwata, Juan Rubio-Ríos, Richard G. Pearson, Brendan G. McKie, Aaron Davis, Jaime Bosch, Alexander S. Flecker, Anne Watson, Leon A. Barmuta, Michael Vernasky, J. Jesús Casas, Elvira de Eyto, Checo Colón-Gaud, María Leal, Sankarappan Anbalagan, Ana M. Chará-Serna, José Rincón, Ricardo Figueroa, Ricardo J. Albariño, José F. Gonçalves, Charles M'Erimba, Edson S. A. Junior, Javier Pérez, Aydeé Cornejo, Fran Sheldon, Mourine J. Yegon, Nathalie Sia Doumbou Tenkiano, Alan M. Tonin, Renan de Souza Rezende, Scott D. Tiegs, Emerson S. Dias, Junjiro N. Negishi, Andrea C. Encalada, Adriano Caliman, Kaisa Lehosmaa, Arturo Elosegi, Gabriela García, André Frainer, Mark O. Gessner, Alonso Ramírez, Frank O. Masese, Christopher M. Swan, Marcos Callisto, Catherine M. Yule, Pavel E García, Juliana Silva França, Francisco Correa-Araneda, Janine Rodulfo Tolod, Samuel T. Kariuki, Michael M. Douglas, Szymon Ciapała, Neusa Hamada, Adriana O. Medeiros, Jesús E. Gómez, and Jesús Pozo
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,decomposition of terrestrial plant litter ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,ved/biology.organism_classification_rank.species ,Environmental Studies ,STREAMS ,Oceanography, Hydrology, Water Resources ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,balanced diet ,Latitude ,running waters ,Terrestrial plant ,Research Articles ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Invertebrate ,Carbon flux ,Multidisciplinary ,Ecology ,ved/biology ,aquatic microorganisms ,Detritivore ,SciAdv r-articles ,Decomposition ,latitudinal pattern ,Litter ,functional diversity on decomposition ,Environmental science ,global carbon fluxes ,Research Article - Abstract
Plant litter functional diversity effects on instream decomposition change across latitudes., Running waters contribute substantially to global carbon fluxes through decomposition of terrestrial plant litter by aquatic microorganisms and detritivores. Diversity of this litter may influence instream decomposition globally in ways that are not yet understood. We investigated latitudinal differences in decomposition of litter mixtures of low and high functional diversity in 40 streams on 6 continents and spanning 113° of latitude. Despite important variability in our dataset, we found latitudinal differences in the effect of litter functional diversity on decomposition, which we explained as evolutionary adaptations of litter-consuming detritivores to resource availability. Specifically, a balanced diet effect appears to operate at lower latitudes versus a resource concentration effect at higher latitudes. The latitudinal pattern indicates that loss of plant functional diversity will have different consequences on carbon fluxes across the globe, with greater repercussions likely at low latitudes.
- Published
- 2021