Positive Feedback on Climate Warming by Stream Microbial Decomposers Indicated by a Global Space‐For‐Time Substitution Study

Decomposition of plant litter is a key ecological process in streams, whose contribution to the global carbon cycle is large relative to their extent on Earth. We examined the mechanisms underlying the temperature sensitivity (TS) of instream decomposition and forecast effects of climate warming on this process. Comparing data from 41 globally distributed sites, we assessed the TS of microbial and total decomposition using litter of nine plant species combined in six mixtures. Microbial decomposition conformed to the metabolic theory of ecology and its TS was consistently higher than that of total decomposition, which was higher than found previously. Litter quality influenced the difference between microbial and total decomposition, with total decomposition of more recalcitrant litter being more sensitive to temperature. Our projections suggest that (i) warming will enhance the microbial contribution to decomposition, increasing CO<sub>2</sub> outgassing and intensifying the warming trend, especially in colder regions; and (ii) riparian species composition will have a major influence on this process.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Global Change Biology
Published
2025-04-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70171
Citations
2
Primary Topic
Freshwater macroinvertebrate diversity and ecology
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
3.43

Funders

Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Positive Feedback on Climate Warming by Stream Microbial Decomposers Indicated by a Global Space‐For‐Time Substitution Study

Neusa Hamada, Andrea Landeira‐Dabarca, Ian C. Campbell, María Leal et al.
2 citations
Global Change Biology
Freshwater macroinvertebrate diversity and ecology
3.43
article

Positive Feedback on Climate Warming by Stream Microbial Decomposers Indicated by a Global Space‐For‐Time Substitution Study

Neusa Hamada, Andrea Landeira‐Dabarca, Ian C. Campbell, María Leal, Erica A. García, Sankarappan Anbalagan, Paul S. Giller, Aaron M. Davis, Daichi Imazawa, Adriano Caliman, Éric Chauvet, Brendan G. McKie, Junjiro N. Negishi, Tadeusz Fleituch, Marcos Callisto, Luz Boyero, Aydeé Cornejo, Alberto Alonso, Javier Pérez, L. C. Marchant, Angela R. Shaffer, Leon A. Barmuta, Charles M’Erimba, S. A. Edson, Frank O. Masese, Jen A. Middleton, Catherine Mary Yule, Scott D. Tiegs, André Frainer, Michael Vernasky, Francisco Correa‐Araneda, Alexander S. Flecker, Manuel A. S. Graça, Elizabeth W. Wanderi, Timo Muotka, Anne Watson, Luiz Ubiratan Hepp, Pavel García, Richard G. Pearson, Andrea C. Encalada, Ricardo Albariño, Alonso Ramírez, Tomoya Iwata, Alan M. Tonin, Mark O. Gessner, Ana M. Chará‐Serna, Kaisa Lehosmaa, Janine Rodulfo Tolod, Fran Sheldon, Michael M. Douglas, Francis J. Burdon, Monika Degebrodt, Gabriela García, Renato Tavares Martins, Ricardo Figueroa, Renan de Souza Rezende, Bradley J. Cardinale, John S. Richardson, Christopher M. Swan, Adriana O. Medeiros, Naiara López‐Rojo, Cang Hui, Robert O. Hall, J. Checo Colón-Gaud, Nathalie Sia Doumbou Tenkiano, Luciana Silva Carneiro, Elvira de Eyto, José Francisco Gonçalves, Andrew J. Boulton, J. Jesús Casas, María Elisa Díaz, Jesús E. Gómez, Megan Maul, José Rincón, Claudia Serrano
article en
2 citations

Abstract

Decomposition of plant litter is a key ecological process in streams, whose contribution to the global carbon cycle is large relative to their extent on Earth. We examined the mechanisms underlying the temperature sensitivity (TS) of instream decomposition and forecast effects of climate warming on this process. Comparing data from 41 globally distributed sites, we assessed the TS of microbial and total decomposition using litter of nine plant species combined in six mixtures. Microbial decomposition conformed to the metabolic theory of ecology and its TS was consistently higher than that of total decomposition, which was higher than found previously. Litter quality influenced the difference between microbial and total decomposition, with total decomposition of more recalcitrant litter being more sensitive to temperature. Our projections suggest that (i) warming will enhance the microbial contribution to decomposition, increasing CO<sub>2</sub> outgassing and intensifying the warming trend, especially in colder regions; and (ii) riparian species composition will have a major influence on this process.

Global Change BiologyVol. 31(4)
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (BR), Ikerbasque (ES), Griffith University (AU), Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud (PA), Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul (BR), Universidade Federal da Bahia (BR), University of Maryland, Baltimore (US), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), University of Tasmania (AU), Pennsylvania State University (US), North Carolina State University (US), University of British Columbia (CA), African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (ZA), Universidade de Brasília (BR), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (AR), Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (GT), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US), Universidad del Zulia (VE), University of the Basque Country (ES), University of Concepción (CL), University of the Sunshine Coast (AU), Oakland University (US), The University of Western Australia (AU), Université Fédérale de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées (FR), National University of Ireland (IE), Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (BR), Egerton University (KE), University of Puerto Rico System (PR), Hokkaido University (JP), Cornell University (US), University of Eldoret (KE), Stellenbosch University (ZA), University College Cork (IE), Museums Victoria (AU), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SE), Charles Darwin University (AU), Community University of Chapecó Region - Unochapecó (BR), Universidad Autónoma de Chile (CL), Julius Nyerere University of Kankan (GN), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (BR), Georgia Southern University (US), Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (FR), Centro para la Investigación en Sistemas Sostenibles de Producción Agropecuaria (CO), Laboratoire Écologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement (FR), Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (DE), Institute of Nature Conservation (PL), Laboratoire d'Écologie Alpine (FR), Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NO), Marine Institute (IE), Technische Universität Berlin (DE), University of Almería (ES), University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez (PR), University of Yamanashi (JP), University of Montana (US), Universidad San Francisco de Quito (EC), Universidad Nacional del Comahue (AR), University of Coimbra (PT), UiT The Arctic University of Norway (NO), James Cook University (AU), Université Grenoble Alpes (FR), University of New England (AU), University of Oulu (FI), Polish Academy of Sciences (PL)
Eusko Jaurlaritza
Climate action
Openalex Percentile: Top 10%
Freshwater macroinvertebrate diversity and ecology
3.43
DOISourceOpenAlex
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.