ORCID Profile
0000-0001-8191-2113
Current Organisation
Universidade de Brasília
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Publisher: Wiley
Date: 23-05-2012
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 05-09-2017
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-017-10640-3
Abstract: Plant litter represents a major basal resource in streams, where its decomposition is partly regulated by litter traits. Litter-trait variation may determine the latitudinal gradient in decomposition in streams, which is mainly microbial in the tropics and detritivore-mediated at high latitudes. However, this hypothesis remains untested, as we lack information on large-scale trait variation for riparian litter. Variation cannot easily be inferred from existing leaf-trait databases, since nutrient resorption can cause traits of litter and green leaves to erge. Here we present the first global-scale assessment of riparian litter quality by determining latitudinal variation (spanning 107°) in litter traits (nutrient concentrations physical and chemical defences) of 151 species from 24 regions and their relationships with environmental factors and phylogeny. We hypothesized that litter quality would increase with latitude (despite variation within regions) and traits would be correlated to produce ‘syndromes’ resulting from phylogeny and environmental variation. We found lower litter quality and higher nitrogen:phosphorus ratios in the tropics. Traits were linked but showed no phylogenetic signal, suggesting that syndromes were environmentally determined. Poorer litter quality and greater phosphorus limitation towards the equator may restrict detritivore-mediated decomposition, contributing to the predominance of microbial decomposers in tropical streams.
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Date: 06-2015
DOI: 10.1086/681093
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-02-2011
DOI: 10.1111/J.1461-0248.2010.01578.X
Abstract: The decomposition of plant litter is one of the most important ecosystem processes in the biosphere and is particularly sensitive to climate warming. Aquatic ecosystems are well suited to studying warming effects on decomposition because the otherwise confounding influence of moisture is constant. By using a latitudinal temperature gradient in an unprecedented global experiment in streams, we found that climate warming will likely hasten microbial litter decomposition and produce an equivalent decline in detritivore-mediated decomposition rates. As a result, overall decomposition rates should remain unchanged. Nevertheless, the process would be profoundly altered, because the shift in importance from detritivores to microbes in warm climates would likely increase CO(2) production and decrease the generation and sequestration of recalcitrant organic particles. In view of recent estimates showing that inland waters are a significant component of the global carbon cycle, this implies consequences for global biogeochemistry and a possible positive climate feedback.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-2011
DOI: 10.1890/10-2244.1
Abstract: Most hypotheses explaining the general gradient of higher ersity toward the equator are implicit or explicit about greater species packing in the tropics. However, global patterns of ersity within guilds, including trophic guilds (i.e., groups of organisms that use similar food resources), are poorly known. We explored global ersity patterns of a key trophic guild in stream ecosystems, the detritivore shredders. This was motivated by the fundamental ecological role of shredders as decomposers of leaf litter and by some records pointing to low shredder ersity and abundance in the tropics, which contrasts with ersity patterns of most major taxa for which broad-scale latitudinal patterns haven been examined. Given this evidence, we hypothesized that shredders are more abundant and erse in temperate than in tropical streams, and that this pattern is related to the higher temperatures and lower availability of high-quality leaf litter in the tropics. Our comprehensive global survey (129 stream sites from 14 regions on six continents) corroborated the expected latitudinal pattern and showed that shredder distribution (abundance, ersity and assemblage composition) was explained by a combination of factors, including water temperature (some taxa were restricted to cool waters) and biogeography (some taxa were more erse in particular biogeographic realms). In contrast to our hypothesis, shredder ersity was unrelated to leaf toughness, but it was inversely related to litter ersity. Our findings markedly contrast with global trends of ersity for most taxa, and with the general rule of higher consumer ersity at higher levels of resource ersity. Moreover, they highlight the emerging role of temperature in understanding global patterns of ersity, which is of great relevance in the face of projected global warming.
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 27-04-2016
Abstract: Plant litter breakdown is a key ecological process in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. Streams and rivers, in particular, contribute substantially to global carbon fluxes. However, there is little information available on the relative roles of different drivers of plant litter breakdown in fresh waters, particularly at large scales. We present a global-scale study of litter breakdown in streams to compare the roles of biotic, climatic and other environmental factors on breakdown rates. We conducted an experiment in 24 streams encompassing latitudes from 47.8° N to 42.8° S, using litter mixtures of local species differing in quality and phylogenetic ersity (PD), and alder ( Alnus glutinosa ) to control for variation in litter traits. Our models revealed that breakdown of alder was driven by climate, with some influence of pH, whereas variation in breakdown of litter mixtures was explained mainly by litter quality and PD. Effects of litter quality and PD and stream pH were more positive at higher temperatures, indicating that different mechanisms may operate at different latitudes. These results reflect global variability caused by multiple factors, but unexplained variance points to the need for expanded global-scale comparisons.
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 26-03-2021
Abstract: Plant litter functional ersity effects on instream decomposition change across latitudes.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 17-12-2019
DOI: 10.1111/FWB.13459
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 14-05-2015
DOI: 10.1111/ECOG.00982
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 17-06-2021
DOI: 10.1038/S41467-021-23930-2
Abstract: The relationship between detritivore ersity and decomposition can provide information on how biogeochemical cycles are affected by ongoing rates of extinction, but such evidence has come mostly from local studies and microcosm experiments. We conducted a globally distributed experiment (38 streams across 23 countries in 6 continents) using standardised methods to test the hypothesis that detritivore ersity enhances litter decomposition in streams, to establish the role of other characteristics of detritivore assemblages (abundance, biomass and body size), and to determine how patterns vary across realms, biomes and climates. We observed a positive relationship between ersity and decomposition, strongest in tropical areas, and a key role of abundance and biomass at higher latitudes. Our results suggest that litter decomposition might be altered by detritivore extinctions, particularly in tropical areas, where detritivore ersity is already relatively low and some environmental stressors particularly prevalent.
No related grants have been discovered for José Francisco Gonçalves Jr.