The contributions of soil biota to litter mass loss and home-field advantage in temperate forests

Abstract Background Soil biotic communities play an important ecological role in driving the litter decomposition, and moreover the home-field advantage (HFA). However, whether and how these communities with different body sizes regulate litter mass loss and HFA is still unclear. Methods We constructed a reciprocal transplantation microcosm decomposition experiment with the litter species and corresponding soil collected from three tree species distributed along an altitude gradient in Changbai Mountain in China ( Corylus mandshurica Maxim. ex Rupr. at 700 m, Fraxinus mandshurica Rupr . at 1260 m, and Betula ermanii Cham. at 1800 m), respectively. We obtained a series of soil biotic communities with different body sizes through filtering soil solution with sieves ranging from 11 μm to 2 mm mesh. Microcosms were then inoculated with these community size fractions. Results Biotic community size fractions positively influenced the litter mass loss, while the contributions of soil biotic groups to litter mass loss were negatively related to their body size. Compared with mesofauna and microfauna, soil microorganisms contributed more to litter mass loss. The contributions of soil biotic groups to HFA were influenced by the interaction between biotic body size and litter species. Moreover, we found close relationships between litter mass loss, HFA and litter quality in the initial stage of decomposition, while community size fractions contributed directly to litter mass loss in the relatively later stage. Conclusion Our findings improve our understanding to the ecological role of different soil biotic communities in litter decomposition. It’s crucial for accurately predicting the nutrient cycling in forest ecosystem under climate changes in the future.