Table 1.
Mean (± SE) of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations (% DM), specific leaf area (SLA; mm2 mg-1), leaf toughness (kPa) and ash concentration (% DM) for each plant species (based on measurements of five replicates) and litter mixture, and trait distance in each litter mixture based on cluster analysis.
Different letters indicate significant differences (p < 0.05) across single species and 3-spps litter mixtures, on the basis of linear models followed by pairwise multiple comparisons.
Fig 1.
Experimental treatments for each litter mixture and plant diversity level.
A: Alnus glutinosa; C: Corylus avellana; Q: Quercus robut; I: Ilex aquifolium.
Fig 2.
Changes in mean (± SE) (A) litter decomposition (mg leaf mg detritivore-1), (B) FPOM production (mg FPOM mg detritivore-1) and (C) detritivore growth (%) with plant diversity loss from 4 to 1 species, in microcosms with detritivores. Different lower-case letters represent significant differences across treatments (p < 0.05).
Fig 3.
Changes in mean (± SE) (A-D) litter decomposition (mg leaf mg detritivore-1), (E-H) FPOM production (mg FPOM mg detritivore-1) and (I-L) detritivore growth (%) with plant diversity loss from 3 to 1 species in the different 3-species litter mixtures. A: Alnus glutinosa; C: Corylus avellana; Q: Quercus robur; I: Ilex aquifolium), in microcosms with detritivores. Different lower-case letters represent significant differences across treatments (p < 0.05).
Table 2.
Results of linear models exploring effects of plant diversity loss (from 4 to 1 species in ACQI, or from 3 to 1 species in ACQ, ACI, AQI and CQI) on litter decomposition (mg mg detritivore-1), FPOM production (mg mg detritivore-1) and detritivore growth (percentage) for different litter mixtures in microcosms with detritivores.
Fig 4.
Mean (± SE) complementarity and selection effects on litter decomposition for different litter mixtures.
A: Alnus glutinosa; C: Corylus avellana; Q: Quercus robut; I: Ilex aquifolium. Whole bars represent the net diversity effect (i.e., the sum of complementarity and selection effects), except for the CQI mixture where the selection effect is negative.
Fig 5.
Mean (± SE) (A) net diversity, (B) complementarity and (C) selection effects on litter decomposition and (D) net diversity effects on FPOM production for different litter mixtures in microcosms with detritivores. A: Alnus glutinosa; C: Corylus avellana; Q: Quercus robut; I: Ilex aquifolium. Different lower-case letters represent significant differences across treatments (p < 0.05).
Table 3.
Results of linear models exploring the relationship between diversity effects (i.e., net diversity, complementarity or selection effect on decomposition and net diversity effect on FPOM production) and initial average leaf traits (N and P concentrations, SLA, leaf toughness and ash concentration) or trait variability in 3-species litter mixtures, in microcosms with detritivores.