A global experiment suggests climate warming will not accelerate litter decomposition in streams but might reduce carbon sequestration.

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.

Global distribution of a key trophic guild contrasts with common latitudinal diversity patterns.

Most hypotheses explaining the general gradient of higher diversity toward the equator are implicit or explicit about greater species packing in the tropics. However, global patterns of diversity within guilds, including trophic guilds (i.e., groups of organisms that use similar food resources), are poorly known. We explored global diversity 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 diversity and abundance in the tropics, which contrasts with diversity 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 diverse 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, diversity 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 diverse in particular biogeographic realms). In contrast to our hypothesis, shredder diversity was unrelated to leaf toughness, but it was inversely related to litter diversity. Our findings markedly contrast with global trends of diversity for most taxa, and with the general rule of higher consumer diversity at higher levels of resource diversity. Moreover, they highlight the emerging role of temperature in understanding global patterns of diversity, which is of great relevance in the face of projected global warming.

Riparian plant litter quality increases with latitude.

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 diverge. 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.

Hormetic effects of gamma radiation on the stress axis of natural populations of meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus).

We tested the hypothesis that low doses of gamma radiation have beneficial, hormetic effects on the stress axis (the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis) of free-ranging meadow vole populations (Microtus pennsylvanicus). Voles were exposed to chronic gamma radiation from a 137Cs field irradiator. In isolated populations, voles received one of three treatments over a four-year period: Controls (0.19-0.42 microGy/h--levels that were 2-5x above background levels [0.1 microGy/h] and live-trapped in all years--1982--1985), low doses (22.6 microGy/h--50-200x background, live-trapped from November 1982--April 1985), or high doses (3,840 microGy/h--40,000x background, live-trapped from November 1983--April 1985). Voles exposed to a low dose had levels of free and total corticosterone that were significantly higher than those in the control or high-dose groups. Differences in response to radiation between the sexes were apparent for maximum corticosterone-binding capacity, with females exposed to low doses having higher binding capacity than control or high-dose females, whereas males exposed to low doses had lower binding capacity than control or high-dose males. Low-dose voles had higher counts of neutrophils than either the controls or high-dose voles; hematocrit was greater in the controls than in irradiated voles. These results indicate that voles display a hormetic response to radiation, wherein low doses of an otherwise harmful agent produce a beneficial effect. The stimulation of the stress axis resulting in the increased secretion of glucocorticoids, which may protect against the excessive actions of the immune and inflammatory responses, may be a key mechanism producing this effect.