Regulatory factors and differences in plant litter decomposition revealed

Recently, Liu Lingli, a researcher at the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, built a global level of location and species-matched leaf and fine root decomposition database, and used methods such as enhanced regression trees to analyze the data, revealing the decomposition of leaf and fine root litter Differences in connections and their regulatory factors
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Leaf and fine root litter are the two largest components of plant litter input, which together determine the rate of vegetation turnover and nutrient cycling in the ecosystem
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To this end, the researchers built a database containing 352 sets of leaf and fine root paired litter decomposition rate and litter characteristics data, and matched the climate, soil physical and chemical characteristics and decomposers (including soil animals and microorganisms) of the research site.
Richness data
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After analyzing the data using methods such as enhanced regression trees, the researchers found that the chemical properties of leaf and fine root litter such as C:N, P content, N:P, lignin content, cellulose content, non-structural carbon Both the content and the tannin content are positively correlated
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This study shows that in the long-term evolution process of plants, an economical spectrum of leaves and fine roots is formed.
The acquisition strategy plants with higher nutrient requirements have faster decomposition of roots and leaf litter, thus forming "nutrients".
Demand-decomposition mineralization" coupling strategy
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Guo Lulu, a doctoral student at the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, is the first author of the paper, and Liu Lingli is the corresponding author
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Related paper information: https://doi.