Articles | Volume 24, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/we-24-11-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/we-24-11-2024
Standard article
 | 
23 Feb 2024
Standard article |  | 23 Feb 2024

Disturbance can slow down litter decomposition, depending on severity of disturbance and season: an example from Mount Kilimanjaro

Juliane Röder, Tim Appelhans, Marcell K. Peters, Thomas Nauss, and Roland Brandl

Related authors

High-resolution digital elevation models and orthomosaics generated from historical aerial photographs (since the 1960s) of the Bale Mountains in Ethiopia
Mohammed Ahmed Muhammed, Binyam Tesfaw Hailu, Georg Miehe, Luise Wraase, Thomas Nauss, and Dirk Zeuss
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 5535–5552, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5535-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5535-2023, 2023
Short summary
Mammalian bioturbation amplifies rates of both hillslope sediment erosion and accumulation along the Chilean climate gradient
Paulina Grigusova, Annegret Larsen, Roland Brandl, Camilo del Río, Nina Farwig, Diana Kraus, Leandro Paulino, Patricio Pliscoff, and Jörg Bendix
Biogeosciences, 20, 3367–3394, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3367-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3367-2023, 2023
Short summary
Bioturbation enhances C and N contents on near-surface soils in resource-deficient arid climate regions but shows adverse effects in more temperate climates
Diana Kraus, Roland Brandl, Jörg Bendix, Paulina Grigusova, Sabrina Köhler, Annegret Larsen, Patricio Pliscoff, Kirstin Übernickel, and Nina Farwig
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-1427,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-1427, 2023
Preprint archived
Short summary
Higher sediment redistribution rates related to burrowing animals than previously assumed as revealed by time-of-flight-based monitoring
Paulina Grigusova, Annegret Larsen, Sebastian Achilles, Roland Brandl, Camilo del Río, Nina Farwig, Diana Kraus, Leandro Paulino, Patricio Pliscoff, Kirstin Übernickel, and Jörg Bendix
Earth Surf. Dynam., 10, 1273–1301, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-1273-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-1273-2022, 2022
Short summary
The enigma of relict large sorted stone stripes in the tropical Ethiopian Highlands
Alexander R. Groos, Janik Niederhauser, Luise Wraase, Falk Hänsel, Thomas Nauss, Naki Akçar, and Heinz Veit
Earth Surf. Dynam., 9, 145–166, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-145-2021,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-145-2021, 2021
Short summary

Related subject area

Ecosystem Ecology
Little evidence for land-use filters on intraspecific trait variation in three arthropod groups
Katja Wehner, Matthias Brandt, Andrea Hilpert, Nadja K.​​​​​​​ Simons, and Nico Blüthgen
Web Ecol., 23, 35–49, https://doi.org/10.5194/we-23-35-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/we-23-35-2023, 2023
Short summary
The BIODESERT survey: assessing the impacts of grazing on the structure and functioning of global drylands
Fernando T. Maestre, David J. Eldridge, Nicolas Gross, Yoann Le Bagousse-Pinguet, Hugo Saiz, Beatriz Gozalo, Victoria Ochoa, and Juan J. Gaitán
Web Ecol., 22, 75–96, https://doi.org/10.5194/we-22-75-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/we-22-75-2022, 2022
Short summary
Co-varying effects of vegetation structure and terrain attributes are responsible for soil respiration spatial patterns in a sandy forest–steppe transition zone
Gabriella Süle, Szilvia Fóti, László Körmöczi, Dóra Petrás, Levente Kardos, and János Balogh
Web Ecol., 21, 95–107, https://doi.org/10.5194/we-21-95-2021,https://doi.org/10.5194/we-21-95-2021, 2021
Short summary
Morphometric traits of shells determine external attack and internal utilization marks in the Roman snail in eastern Germany
Claudia Tluste, Udo Bröring, Tomáš Němec, and Klaus Birkhofer
Web Ecol., 20, 87–94, https://doi.org/10.5194/we-20-87-2020,https://doi.org/10.5194/we-20-87-2020, 2020
Short summary
Unassisted establishment of biological soil crusts on dryland road slopes
Laura Concostrina-Zubiri, Juan M. Arenas, Isabel Martínez, and Adrián Escudero
Web Ecol., 19, 39–51, https://doi.org/10.5194/we-19-39-2019,https://doi.org/10.5194/we-19-39-2019, 2019
Short summary

Cited articles

Aerts, R.: Climate, leaf litter chemistry and leaf litter decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems: A triangular relationship, Oikos, 79, 439–449, https://doi.org/10.2307/3546886, 1997.  
Appelhans, T., Mwangomo, E., Hardy, D. R., Hemp, A., and Nauss, T.: Evaluating machine learning approaches for the interpolation of monthly air temperature at Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Spat. Stat.-Neth., 14, 91–113, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spasta.2015.05.008, 2015. 
Appelhans, T., Mwangomo, E., Otte, I., Detsch, F., Nauss, T., and Hemp, A.: Eco-meteorological characteristics of the southern slopes of Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Int. J. Climatol., 36, 3245–3258, https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.4552, 2016. 
Appelhans, T., Mwangomo, E., Otte, I., Detsch, F., Wöllauer, S., Zeuss, D., Nauss, T., and Hemp, A.: Processed climate station data for the southern slopes of Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, PANGAEA [data set], https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.942822, 2022. 
Attignon, S. E., Weibel, D., Lachat, T., Sinsin, B., Nagel, P., and Peveling, R.: Leaf litter breakdown in natural and plantation forests of the Lama forest reserve in Benin, Appl. Soil Ecol., 27, 109–124, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2004.05.003, 2004. 
Download
Short summary
We studied rates of litter decomposition in natural and disturbed vegetation on elevation gradients of Mount Kilimanjaro to disentangle effects of climate and disturbance. Decomposition was slower in disturbed than in natural forests, but we did not find a negative effect of disturbance for non-forest vegetation. Decomposition slowed down with increasing land-use intensity, but only in the warm wet season. Temperature and humidity were the most important drivers of decomposition in all analyses.