Temperature sensitivity and decomposition rate of 101 leaf litter types from Mediterranean ecosystems

Litter decomposition is a fundamental process, and the number of published studies has steadily increased in recent decades. However, few experiments have systematically compared a large number of litter types and evaluated their temperature sensitivity. We conducted a two-year experiment on the decomposition of litter bags containing 101 leaf litter sampled in Mediterranean ecosystems and incubated under laboratory conditions at 4 °C, 14 °C, and 24 °C. Litter was chemically characterized and analysed for carbon (C), nitrogen (N), cellulose and lignin concentra tion, C/N, and lignin/N ratios, which serve as predictors of decomposition rate. The sensitivity of litter decay rate to temperature was evaluated usingQ10. Leaflitter chemistry varied widelyin nitrogencontent (range 0.52–6.80 %), lig nin content (range1.53–49.31 %), C/Nratio (range 5.21–77.78),andlignin/Nratio(range0.34–34.90).Litterdecom position rate was negatively related to initial lignin concentration, lignin/N ratio, and C/N ratio, but only in the early stage. In the late stages of decomposition, litter decay rate was negatively correlated with initial N concentration but positively correlated with C/N and lignin/N ratios. Temperature sensitivity was negatively correlated with N concen tration and positively correlated with lignin andlignin/N ratio.Itisnoteworthy that, contraryto expectations, temper ature sensitivity exhibited a hump-shaped relationship with decay rate. N, C/N, and lignin/N ratios should be used with caution because their predictive power is reversed with respect to decomposition rate during the decomposition process. In addition, the new findingthat temperature sensitivity has a hump-shaped relationship with decomposition rate deserves further confirmation and could be considered in ecosystem-level organic C modeling.