title: Climate Warming and Soil Carbon in Tropical Forests: Insights from an Elevation Gradient in the Peruvian Andes.
abstract: The temperature sensitivity of soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition in tropical forests will influence future climate. Studies of a 3.5-kilometer elevation gradient in the Peruvian Andes, including short-term translocation experiments and the examination of the long-term adaptation of biota to local thermal and edaphic conditions, have revealed several factors that may regulate this sensitivity. Collectively this work suggests that, in the absence of a moisture constraint, the temperature sensitivity of decomposition is regulated by the chemical composition of plant debris (litter) and both the physical and chemical composition of preexisting SOM: higher temperature sensitivities are found in litter or SOM that is more chemically complex and in SOM that is less occluded within aggregates. In addition, the temperature sensitivity of SOM in tropical montane forests may be larger than previously recognized because of the presence of "cold-adapted" and nitrogen-limited microbial decomposers and the possible future alterations in plant and microbial communities associated with warming. Studies along elevation transects, such as those reviewed here, can reveal factors that will regulate the temperature sensitivity of SOM. They can also complement and guide in situ soil-warming experiments, which will be needed to understand how this vulnerability to temperature may be mediated by altered plant productivity under future climatic change.
authors.affiliation: Andrew T. Nottingham ( anotting@staffmail.ed.ac.uk ) is affiliated with the School of Geosciences at the University of Edinburgh, in the United Kingdom. Jeanette Whitaker is with the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology at the Lancaster Environment Centre, in Lancaster, United Kingdom. Benjamin L. Turner is affiliated with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, in Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama. Norma Salinas is with the Seccion Química at the Universidad La Católica, in Lima, Peru. Michael Zimmermann is affiliated with the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, in Vienna, Austria. Yadvinder Malhi is with the Environmental Change Institute in the School of Geography and the Environment at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Patrick Meir is affiliated with the Research School of Biology at Australian National University, in Canberra, and with the School of Geosciences at the University of Edinburgh, in the United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Andrew T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Nottingham
authors.affiliation: Andrew T. Nottingham ( anotting@staffmail.ed.ac.uk ) is affiliated with the School of Geosciences at the University of Edinburgh, in the United Kingdom. Jeanette Whitaker is with the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology at the Lancaster Environment Centre, in Lancaster, United Kingdom. Benjamin L. Turner is affiliated with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, in Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama. Norma Salinas is with the Seccion Química at the Universidad La Católica, in Lima, Peru. Michael Zimmermann is affiliated with the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, in Vienna, Austria. Yadvinder Malhi is with the Environmental Change Institute in the School of Geography and the Environment at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Patrick Meir is affiliated with the Research School of Biology at Australian National University, in Canberra, and with the School of Geosciences at the University of Edinburgh, in the United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Jeanette
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Whitaker
authors.affiliation: Andrew T. Nottingham ( anotting@staffmail.ed.ac.uk ) is affiliated with the School of Geosciences at the University of Edinburgh, in the United Kingdom. Jeanette Whitaker is with the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology at the Lancaster Environment Centre, in Lancaster, United Kingdom. Benjamin L. Turner is affiliated with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, in Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama. Norma Salinas is with the Seccion Química at the Universidad La Católica, in Lima, Peru. Michael Zimmermann is affiliated with the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, in Vienna, Austria. Yadvinder Malhi is with the Environmental Change Institute in the School of Geography and the Environment at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Patrick Meir is affiliated with the Research School of Biology at Australian National University, in Canberra, and with the School of Geosciences at the University of Edinburgh, in the United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Benjamin L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.affiliation: Andrew T. Nottingham ( anotting@staffmail.ed.ac.uk ) is affiliated with the School of Geosciences at the University of Edinburgh, in the United Kingdom. Jeanette Whitaker is with the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology at the Lancaster Environment Centre, in Lancaster, United Kingdom. Benjamin L. Turner is affiliated with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, in Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama. Norma Salinas is with the Seccion Química at the Universidad La Católica, in Lima, Peru. Michael Zimmermann is affiliated with the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, in Vienna, Austria. Yadvinder Malhi is with the Environmental Change Institute in the School of Geography and the Environment at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Patrick Meir is affiliated with the Research School of Biology at Australian National University, in Canberra, and with the School of Geosciences at the University of Edinburgh, in the United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Norma
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Salinas
authors.affiliation: Andrew T. Nottingham ( anotting@staffmail.ed.ac.uk ) is affiliated with the School of Geosciences at the University of Edinburgh, in the United Kingdom. Jeanette Whitaker is with the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology at the Lancaster Environment Centre, in Lancaster, United Kingdom. Benjamin L. Turner is affiliated with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, in Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama. Norma Salinas is with the Seccion Química at the Universidad La Católica, in Lima, Peru. Michael Zimmermann is affiliated with the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, in Vienna, Austria. Yadvinder Malhi is with the Environmental Change Institute in the School of Geography and the Environment at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Patrick Meir is affiliated with the Research School of Biology at Australian National University, in Canberra, and with the School of Geosciences at the University of Edinburgh, in the United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zimmermann
authors.affiliation: Andrew T. Nottingham ( anotting@staffmail.ed.ac.uk ) is affiliated with the School of Geosciences at the University of Edinburgh, in the United Kingdom. Jeanette Whitaker is with the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology at the Lancaster Environment Centre, in Lancaster, United Kingdom. Benjamin L. Turner is affiliated with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, in Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama. Norma Salinas is with the Seccion Química at the Universidad La Católica, in Lima, Peru. Michael Zimmermann is affiliated with the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, in Vienna, Austria. Yadvinder Malhi is with the Environmental Change Institute in the School of Geography and the Environment at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Patrick Meir is affiliated with the Research School of Biology at Australian National University, in Canberra, and with the School of Geosciences at the University of Edinburgh, in the United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Yadvinder
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Malhi
authors.affiliation: Andrew T. Nottingham ( anotting@staffmail.ed.ac.uk ) is affiliated with the School of Geosciences at the University of Edinburgh, in the United Kingdom. Jeanette Whitaker is with the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology at the Lancaster Environment Centre, in Lancaster, United Kingdom. Benjamin L. Turner is affiliated with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, in Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama. Norma Salinas is with the Seccion Química at the Universidad La Católica, in Lima, Peru. Michael Zimmermann is affiliated with the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, in Vienna, Austria. Yadvinder Malhi is with the Environmental Change Institute in the School of Geography and the Environment at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Patrick Meir is affiliated with the Research School of Biology at Australian National University, in Canberra, and with the School of Geosciences at the University of Edinburgh, in the United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Meir
keywords: decomposition; soil microorganisms; soil organic matter; temperature sensitivity; tropical lowland forest; tropical montane forest