Foliar pathogen epidemic slows decomposition of invasive plant litter

Decomposition of plant litter, facilitated primarily by microbial decomposers, plays a critical role in biogeochemical cycling and ecosystem function. The rate of litter decomposition can determine its environmental impact, where accelerated decomposition alters the timing and rate of nutrient release and may promote nutrient leaching, whereas slowed decomposition can result in litter accumulation, which impacts seedling recruitment, fire regimes, perennation of microbial communities, and slows nutrient release. Mutualistic endophytes are known to slow litter decomposition, but less is known about the impact that plant pathogens, present in diseased litter, have on decomposition rates. We compared litter decomposition of the invasive annual grass Microstegium vimineum with Bipolaris leaf spot symptoms, a fungal disease, to litter without symptoms of the disease in a year-long common garden experiment. We found leaf tissue with disease symptoms decomposed later in the year compared to litter without symptoms. By summer, 54% of leaf tissue from healthy sites remained compared to 80% of leaf material from diseased litter. Fungal infection did not impact the lignin or C:N content of the litter. There were significant differences in fungal community composition between infected and healthy litter at the start of the experiment that persisted until the end of summer. Disease epidemics prior to senescence contributed to the persistence of infected tissue, which could slow the return of nutrients to the environmental pool and promote the survival and dispersal of pathogen inoculum the following season.