title: Controls on coarse wood decay in temperate tree species: birth of the LOGLIFE experiment.
abstract: Dead wood provides a huge terrestrial carbon stock and a habitat to wide-ranging organisms during its decay. Our brief review highlights that, in order to understand environmental change impacts on these functions, we need to quantify the contributions of different interacting biotic and abiotic drivers to wood decomposition. LOGLIFE is a new long-term 'common-garden' experiment to disentangle the effects of species' wood traits and site-related environmental drivers on wood decomposition dynamics and its associated diversity of microbial and invertebrate communities. This experiment is firmly rooted in pioneering experiments under the directorship of Terry Callaghan at Abisko Research Station, Sweden. LOGLIFE features two contrasting forest sites in the Netherlands, each hosting a similar set of coarse logs and branches of 10 tree species. LOGLIFE welcomes other researchers to test further questions concerning coarse wood decay that will also help to optimise forest management in view of carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecological Science, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. j.h.c.cornelissen@vu.nl
authors.forename: Johannes H C
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Cornelissen
authors.forename: Ute
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Sass-Klaassen
authors.forename: Lourens
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Poorter
authors.forename: Koert
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: van Geffen
authors.forename: Richard S P
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: van Logtestijn
authors.forename: Jurgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van Hal
authors.forename: Leo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Goudzwaard
authors.forename: Frank J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Sterck
authors.forename: René K W M
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Klaassen
authors.forename: Grégoire T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Freschet
authors.forename: Annemieke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: van der Wal
authors.forename: Henk
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Eshuis
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zuo
authors.forename: Wietse
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: de Boer
authors.forename: Teun
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lamers
authors.forename: Monique
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weemstra
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cretin
authors.forename: Rozan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Jan den
authors.initials: Jd
authors.lastname: Ouden
authors.forename: Matty P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Berg
authors.forename: Rien
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Aerts
authors.forename: Godefridus M J
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Mohren
authors.forename: Mariet M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Hefting
mesh_terms: D057486:Carbon Cycle; D002980:Climate; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D013045:Species Specificity; D013997:Time Factors; D014197:Trees / Q000145:classification* / Q000502:physiology*; D014934:Wood