title: Non-additive effects of litter diversity on greenhouse gas emissions from alpine steppe soil in Northern Tibet.
abstract: While litter decomposition is a fundamental ecological process, previous studies have mainly focused on the decay of single species. In this study, we conducted a litter-mixing experiment to investigate litter diversity effects on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from an alpine steppe soil in Northern Tibet. Significant non-additive effects of litter diversity on GHG dynamics can be detected; these non-additive effects were the result of species composition rather than species richness. Synergistic effects were frequent for CO2 and N2O emissions, as they were found to occur in 70.5% and 47.1% of total cases, respectively; antagonistic effects on CH4 uptake predominated in 60.3% of the cases examined. The degree of synergism and antagonism may be significantly impacted by litter chemical traits, such as lignin and N, lignin:N ratio, and total phenols during decomposition (P < 0.05). In addition, the relationship between chemical traits and litter-mixing effects changed over incubation time. Our study provides an opportunity to gain insight into the relationship between litter diversity and soil ecological processes. The results indicate that higher plant diversity may generally enhance CO2 and N2O emissions while inhibiting CH4 uptake; meanwhile, the direction and strength of non-additive effects appear to be related to litter chemical traits.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Mountain Surface Processes and Ecological Regulation, Institute of Mountain Hazards &Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China.|University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Youchao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modelling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang City, 330045, Jiangxi, 330045 China.
authors.forename: Fangting
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Mountain Surface Processes and Ecological Regulation, Institute of Mountain Hazards &Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Mountain Surface Processes and Ecological Regulation, Institute of Mountain Hazards &Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China.
authors.forename: Xiaodan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Mountain Surface Processes and Ecological Regulation, Institute of Mountain Hazards &Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China.
authors.forename: Genwei
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Mountain Surface Processes and Ecological Regulation, Institute of Mountain Hazards &Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China.
authors.forename: Xuyang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lu
mesh_terms: D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D017753:Ecosystem; D014644:Genetic Variation; D057232:Global Warming; D065948:Grassland; D017752:Greenhouse Effect; D006801:Humans; D008697:Methane / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D009609:Nitrous Oxide / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry; D018609:Tibet
chemical_list: D012987:Soil; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D009609:Nitrous Oxide; D008697:Methane