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Non-additive effects of species mixing on litter mass loss and chemical properties in a Mongolian pine plantation of Northeast China

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Abstract

Aims

Litter chemical properties may be changed by species mixing and consequently affect litter decomposition; however, the effects of species mixing on chemical properties of litter mixtures during decomposition are poorly understood. In this context, we test how changing species diversity may influence the species-mixing effects on chemical properties as well as mass loss of decomposing litter mixtures.

Methods

We assessed the effects of species mixing on C/N ratio, concentrations of N, lignin and polyphenol as well as mass loss of litter mixtures in a Mongolian pine plantation of Northeast China, using a full factorial design containing 15 possible litter combinations of Mongolian pine, Artemisia scoparia, Setaria viridis and Phragmites communis during 182 days of incubation.

Results

In most instances, species mixing produced non-additive effects on mass loss, C/N ratio and release of N and lignin, and additive effects on polyphenol release of litter mixtures. Among the non-additive effects, synergisms were more common than antagonisms, and both of them changed with incubation time. Meanwhile, species composition rather than species richness explained the non-additive effects of species mixing on mass loss, while they both explained the non-additive effects of species mixing on release of N and lignin and C/N ratio of litter mixtures. Furthermore, the coefficients of variation of mass loss significantly decreased with increasing species richness.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that species composition and richness can mediate the decomposition and most chemical properties of mixed-species litter, which are not likely to be accurately predicted from component species decaying alone.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31270668) and the State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology (LFSE2013-11). We thank Gui-Yan Ai and **g-Shi Li for their technical assistance, and two anonymous referees for their valuable comments and suggestions that greatly improved the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, 110164, China

    Bing Mao, Zhan-Yuan Yu & De-Hui Zeng

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Bei**g, 100049, China

    Bing Mao

  3. Daqinggou Ecological Station, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 72 Wenhua Road, Shenyang, 110016, China

    Bing Mao, Zhan-Yuan Yu & De-Hui Zeng

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  1. Bing Mao
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Correspondence to De-Hui Zeng.

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Responsible Editor: Alfonso Escudero.

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Mao, B., Yu, ZY. & Zeng, DH. Non-additive effects of species mixing on litter mass loss and chemical properties in a Mongolian pine plantation of Northeast China. Plant Soil 396, 339–351 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-015-2593-3

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