Influences of the bark economics spectrum and positive termite feedback on bark and xylem decomposition

作者：Bin Tuo, En‐Rong Yan, Chao Guo, Hang Ci, Matty P. Berg, Johannes H. C. Cornelissen · 发表于：Ecology · 年份：2021 · DOI：10.1002/ecy.3480 · 被引用次数：27 · 研究领域：Forest Ecology and Biodiversity Studies、Forest Insect Ecology and Management、Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies

The plant economics spectrum integrates trade-offs and covariation in resource economic traits of different plant organs and their consequences for pivotal ecosystem processes, such as decomposition. However, in this concept stems are often considered as one unit ignoring the important functional differences between wood (xylem) and bark. These differences may not only affect the performance of woody plants during their lifetime, but may also have important "afterlife effects." Specifically, bark quality may strongly affect deadwood decomposition of different woody species. We hypothesized that (1) bark quality strongly influences bark decomposability to microbial decomposers, and possibly amplifies the interspecific variation in decomposition by invertebrate consumption, especially termites; and (2) bark decomposition has secondary effects on xylem mass loss by providing access to decomposers including invertebrates such as termites. We tested these hypotheses across 34 subtropical woody species representing five common plant functional types, by conducting an in situ deadwood decomposition experiment over 12-month in two sites in subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest in China. We employed visual examination and surface density measurement to quantify termite consumption to both bark and the underlying xylem, respectively. Using principal component analysis, we synthesized seven bark traits to provide the first empirical evidence for a bark economics spectrum (BES), with...