Climate change effects on organic matter decomposition rates in ecosystems from the Maritime Antarctic and Falkland Islands

Bokhorst, S.; Huiskes, A.; Convey, Peter ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8497-9903; Aerts, R.. 2007 Climate change effects on organic matter decomposition rates in ecosystems from the Maritime Antarctic and Falkland Islands. Global Change Biology, 13 (12). 2642-2653. 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2007.01468.x

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Abstract/Summary

Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems have poorly developed soils and currently experience one of the greatest rates of climate warming on the globe. We investigated the responsiveness of organic matter decomposition in Maritime Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems to climate change, using two study sites in the Antarctic Peninsula region (Anchorage Island, 67 degrees S; Signy Island, 61 degrees S), and contrasted the responses found with those at the cool temperate Falkland Islands (52 degrees S). Our approach consisted of two complementary methods: (1) Laboratory measurements of decomposition at different temperatures (2, 6 and 10 degrees C) of plant material and soil organic matter from all three locations. (2) Field measurements at all three locations on the decomposition of soil organic matter, plant material and cellulose, both under natural conditions and under experimental warming (about 0.8 degrees C) achieved using open top chambers. Higher temperatures led to higher organic matter breakdown in the laboratory studies, indicating that decomposition in Maritime Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems is likely to increase with increasing soil temperatures. However, both laboratory and field studies showed that decomposition was more strongly influenced by local substratum characteristics (especially soil N availability) and plant functional type composition than by large-scale temperature differences. The very small responsiveness of organic matter decomposition in the field (experimental temperature increase < 1 degrees C) compared with the laboratory (experimental increases of 4 or 8 degrees C) shows that substantial warming is required before significant effects can be detected.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1111/j.1365-2486.2007.01468.x
Programmes:	BAS Programmes > Global Science in the Antarctic Context (2005-2009) > Biodiversity, Functions, Limits and Adaptation from Molecules to Ecosystems
ISSN:	1354-1013
Additional Keywords:	environmental change; microbial breakdown; soil respiration
NORA Subject Terms:	Botany Meteorology and Climatology Agriculture and Soil Science Biology and Microbiology Ecology and Environment
Date made live:	18 Feb 2011 12:01 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/11692

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

10.1111/j.1365-2486.2007.01468.x

Programmes:

BAS Programmes > Global Science in the Antarctic Context (2005-2009) > Biodiversity, Functions, Limits and Adaptation from Molecules to Ecosystems

ISSN:

1354-1013

Additional Keywords:

environmental change; microbial breakdown; soil respiration

NORA Subject Terms:

Botany
Meteorology and Climatology
Agriculture and Soil Science
Biology and Microbiology
Ecology and Environment