title: A global experiment suggests climate warming will not accelerate litter decomposition in streams but might reduce carbon sequestration.
abstract: The decomposition of plant litter is one of the most important ecosystem processes in the biosphere and is particularly sensitive to climate warming. Aquatic ecosystems are well suited to studying warming effects on decomposition because the otherwise confounding influence of moisture is constant. By using a latitudinal temperature gradient in an unprecedented global experiment in streams, we found that climate warming will likely hasten microbial litter decomposition and produce an equivalent decline in detritivore-mediated decomposition rates. As a result, overall decomposition rates should remain unchanged. Nevertheless, the process would be profoundly altered, because the shift in importance from detritivores to microbes in warm climates would likely increase CO(2) production and decrease the generation and sequestration of recalcitrant organic particles. In view of recent estimates showing that inland waters are a significant component of the global carbon cycle, this implies consequences for global biogeochemistry and a possible positive climate feedback.
authors.affiliation: Wetland Ecology Department, Doñana Biological Station-CSIC, Avda Americo Vespucio s/n, E-41092 Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: Luz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Boyero
authors.forename: Richard G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Pearson
authors.forename: Mark O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Gessner
authors.forename: Leon A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Barmuta
authors.forename: Verónica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: Manuel A S
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authors.lastname: Graça
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dudgeon
authors.forename: Andrew J
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authors.lastname: Boulton
authors.forename: Marcos
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authors.lastname: Callisto
authors.forename: Eric
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authors.lastname: Chauvet
authors.forename: Julie E
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authors.lastname: Helson
authors.forename: Andreas
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authors.lastname: Bruder
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authors.lastname: Albariño
authors.forename: Catherine M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Yule
authors.forename: Muthukumarasamy
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authors.lastname: Arunachalam
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authors.lastname: Davies
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Figueroa
authors.forename: Alexander S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Flecker
authors.forename: Alonso
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ramírez
authors.forename: Russell G
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authors.lastname: Death
authors.forename: Tomoya
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authors.lastname: Iwata
authors.forename: Jude M
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authors.lastname: Mathooko
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mathuriau
authors.forename: José F
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authors.lastname: Gonçalves
authors.forename: Marcelo S
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authors.lastname: Moretti
authors.forename: Tajang
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authors.lastname: Jinggut
authors.forename: Sylvain
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authors.lastname: Lamothe
authors.forename: Charles
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authors.lastname: M'Erimba
authors.forename: Lavenia
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authors.lastname: Ratnarajah
authors.forename: Markus H
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authors.lastname: Schindler
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Castela
authors.forename: Leonardo M
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authors.lastname: Buria
authors.forename: Aydeé
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cornejo
authors.forename: Verónica D
authors.initials: VD
authors.lastname: Villanueva
authors.forename: Derek C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: West
mesh_terms: D057486:Carbon Cycle; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D057965:Carbon Sequestration; D057231:Climate Change; D017753:Ecosystem; D005618:Fresh Water; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000378:metabolism*; D010944:Plants / Q000378:metabolism; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D002245:Carbon Dioxide