Climate Effects on Belowground Tea Litter Decomposition Depend on Ecosystem and Organic Matter Types in Global Wetlands
Stacey M. Trevathan‐Tackett, Sebastian Kepfer‐Rojas, Martino E. Malerba, Peter I. Macreadie, Ika Djukic, Junbin Zhao, Erica B. Young, Paul York, Shin-Cheng Yeh, Yanmei Xiong, Gidon Winters, Danielle Whitlock, Carolyn A. Weaver, Anne Watson, Inger Visby, Jacek Tylkowski, Allison Trethowan, Scott D. Tiegs, Ben J Taylor, Józef Szpikowski, Grażyna Szpikowska, V. Strickland, Normunds Stivriņš, Ana I. Sousa, Sutinee Sinutok, Whitney A. Scheffel, Rui Santos, Jonathan Sanderman, Salvador Sánchez‐Carrillo, Joan-Albert Sánchez-Cabeza, K. Rymer, Ana Carolina Ruíz-Fernández, Bjorn J. M. Robroek, Tessa Roberts, Aurora M. Ricart, Laura K. Reynolds, Grzegorz Rachlewicz, Anchana Prathep, Andrew J. Pinsonneault, Elise Pendall, Richard J. Payne, Ilze Ozola, Cody Onufrock, Anne Ola, Steven F. Oberbauer, Aroloye O. Numbere, Alyssa B. Novak, Joanna Norkko, Alf Norkko, Thomas J. Mozdzer, Pam Morgan, Diana I. Montemayor, Charles W. Martin, Sparkle L. Malone, Maciej Major, Mikołaj Majewski, Carolyn J. Lundquist, Catherine E. Lovelock, Songlin Liu, Hsing‐Juh Lin, Ana I. Lillebø, Jinquan Li, John S. Kominoski, Anzar Ahmad Khuroo, Jeffrey J. Kelleway, Kristin I. Jinks, Daniel Jerónimo, Christopher N. Janousek, Emma L. Jackson, Oscar Iribarne, Torrance C. Hanley, Maroof Hamid, Arjun Gupta, Rafael Dettogni Guariento, Ieva Grudzinska, Anderson da Rocha Gripp, María de los Ángeles González Sagrario, Laura M. Garrison, Karine Gagnon, Esperança Gacia, Marco Fusi, Lachlan Farrington, Jenny Farmer, Francisco de Assis Esteves, Mauricio Escapa, Monika Domańska, André T. C. Dias, Carmen B. de los Santos, Daniele Daffonchio, Paweł Czyryca, Rod M. Connolly, Ale×ander R. Cobb, Maria Chudzińska, Bart Christiaen, Peter Chifflard, Sara Castelar, Luciana S. Carneiro, José Gilberto Cardoso‐Mohedano, Megan R. Camden, Adriano Caliman
Abstract
Patchy global data on belowground litter decomposition dynamics limit our capacity to discern the drivers of carbon preservation and storage across inland and coastal wetlands. We performed a global, multiyear study in over 180 wetlands across 28 countries and 8 macroclimates using standardized litter as measures of "recalcitrant" (rooibos tea) and "labile" (green tea) organic matter (OM) decomposition. Freshwater wetlands and tidal marshes had the highest tea mass remaining, indicating a greater potential for carbon preservation in these ecosystems. Recalcitrant OM decomposition increased with elevated temperatures throughout the decay period, e.g., increase from 10 to 20 °C corresponded to a 1.46-fold increase in the recalcitrant OM decay rate constant. The effect of elevated temperature on labile OM breakdown was ecosystem-dependent, with tidally influenced wetlands showing limited effects of temperature compared with freshwater wetlands. Based on climatic projections, by 2050 wetland decay constants will increase by 1.8% for labile and 3.1% for recalcitrant OM. Our study highlights the potential for reduction in belowground OM in coastal and inland wetlands under increased warming, but the extent and direction of this effect at a large scale is dependent on ecosystem and OM characteristics. Understanding local versus global drivers is necessary to resolve ecosystem influences on carbon preservation in wetlands.