Plant functional traits and decomposer insects’ effects on decomposition
Funding: Humboldt Research Fellowship
Running Period: 2023-2025
Project Staff: Chao Guo, Sebastian Seibold
Main Collaborators: Hans Cornelissen (Vrije Universitet Amsterdam), Berchtesgaden National Park
Project content:
- Understanding the factors influencing the process of wood decomposition is crucial for assessing global carbon budgets. In this project, we leverage data from a global deadwood experiment (Seibold et al. 2021, Nature), encompassing 144 trees distributed across 55 sites. As part of the fellowship, we measure wood and bark traits of all tree species to explore how wood traits interact with climate and decomposer activity in shaping deadwood decomposition globally.
- To study how climate at different scales affect decomposition rates and the contribution of insects and microbes to decomposition processes of plant and animal necromass (leaf litter, deadwood, dung, carrion), we analyze data from a decomposition experiment conducted at Berchtesgaden National Park. Sites cover a gradient in macroclimate associated with (600 to 2200 m asl) and in microclimate linked to vegetation cover from bare ground to grassy cover to open forest to closed forest.