By physically modifying the abiotic environment, ecosystem engineers can have dramatic effects on the distribution and abundance of species in a community. However, ecosystem engineering can also change the selective environment and evolutionary dynamics of affected species, although this remains relatively understudied. Here, we examine the potential for an ecosystem engineer - oak trees - to ...

A strategic selection of tree species will shift the type and quality of litter input, and subsequently magnitude and composition of the soil organic carbon (SOC) through soil microbial community. We conducted a manipulative experiment in randomized block design with leaf litter inputs of four native subtropical tree species in a Pinus massoniana plantation in southern China and found that the ...

In this study, we examined the response of surface soils to increased leaf and wood litter input within adjacent successional forests recovering from agricultural disturbance at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC), Maryland, USA. Previous studies at this site demonstrated an arrested development of O-horizon, even after 130 years of forest growth, and an annual loss of leaf lit...

m ~ m w . regeneration and alters forest community structure in southern Appalachian p=A, hardwood forests. Using paired plots and reciprocal litter transplants in forests Polyphenol oxidase; with and without R. maximum cover, we examined the influence of R. maximum on Protease; Leaf litter litter mass and quality, N cycling and soil extracellular enzymes. Standing stocks of soil organic matter...

One method to determine past climate has been the use of leaf morphological characteristics of fossil leaves quantified using modern climate and canopy leaf characteristics. Fossil assemblages are composed of abscised leaves, and climate may be more accurately determined by using leaves from leaf litter instead of the canopy. To better understand whether taphonomic processes make a difference i...

Little is known about how restoration strategies affect aspects like leaf litter's quantity, depth and humidity. I analyzed leaf litter's quantity, depth and humidity yearly patterns in a primary tropical lower montane wet forest and two restored areas: a 15 year old secondary forest (unassisted restoration) and a 40 year old Cupressus lusitanica plantation (natural understory). The three habit...

Elevational gradients are increasingly recognized as a valuable tool for understanding how community and ecosystem properties respond to climatic factors, but little is known about how plant traits and their effects on ecosystem processes respond to elevation. We studied the response of plant leaf and litter traits, and litter decomposability across a gradient of elevation, and thus temperature...

Leaves intercepted by bromeliads become an important energy and matter resource for invertebrate communities, bacteria, fungi, and the plant itself. The relationship between bromeliad structure, defined as its size and complexity, and accumulated leaf litter was studied in 55 bromeliads of Tillandsia turneri through multiple regression and the Akaike information criterion. Leaf litter accumulat...

In recent years Mycosphaerella leaf disease (MLD) has become very common in Eucalyptus globulus plantations in Galicia, Northwest Spain. The etiology of MLD is complex and is associated with several species of Mycosphaerella and Teratosphaeria. A survey of the fungal mycobiota associated with juvenile and adult leaves, and with leaf litter of the same trees in MLD affected plantations was made....

Tropical montane ecosystems of the Andes are critically threatened by a rapid land-use change which can potentially affect stream variables, aquatic communities, and ecosystem processes such as leaf litter breakdown. However, these effects have not been sufficiently investigated in the Andean region and at high altitude locations in general. Here, we studied the influence of land use (forest-pa...