2026/06/26 by Riccardo Mancinelli, Sara Gargiulo, A Pichierri +2 · 1 voice
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Environmental Science · #Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies #Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics #Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
paper · doi:10.1093/forestry/cpag047
openalex publication_date 2026/06/26 · openalex created_date 2026/07/07 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/12
Abstract Forest plantations play a crucial role in environmental restoration and sustainability, serving as key tools to mitigate the global effects of deforestation. Deforestation leads to biodiversity loss, depletion of carbon (C) sinks, and loss of ecosystem services. Consequently, reforestation efforts must be carefully planned to establish functional and resilient ecosystems. Despite the emphasis on restoring ecosystem function, some basic processes remain poorly understood, particularly those linked to early-stage litter dynamics. In this study, we investigate unexplored drivers of leaf litter decomposition, a key process underpinning the functioning of forest ecosystems. Specifically, we assessed the influence of leaf non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) content, both soluble and starch, on litter decomposition, and compared its effect with that of tree species functional dispersion. We analysed the relationship between these factors and the leaf biomass loss collected from plantations characterized by varying levels of tree species richness, using functional dispersion values for comparison. Our results revealed no significant differences in leaf litter decomposition across the gradient of functional dispersion. In contrast, NSC content was identified as the primary driver of this effect, likely due to its immediate availability to decomposers. Given that NSC content is largely species-specific, we propose that the identity of tree species present in a plantation exerts a stronger influence on leaf litter decomposition processes than functional dispersion per se. Consequently, future tree plantation and reforestation strategies should prioritize careful species selection rather than focusing merely on increasing species richness, in order to promote efficient litter decomposition.