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Participant: part of or influencing processes

Litter

Appears in 9 processs and 10 steps. Everything below is linked: open a process to see it in context.

Top processes

Organic matter decomposition

2 steps

Decomposition

1 step

Leaching of soluble compounds from litter

Saprotrophic fungi

1 step

Hyphae colonize fresh litter surface

Base cation cycling (calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium)

1 step

Litterfall, canopy throughfall and root turnover return cations to the surface soil (biocycling)

Microarthropods: springtails and oribatid mites as fungal grazers and litter processors

1 step

Fragmentation and grazing speed litter decomposition: presence of fauna raises mass loss by roughly a third on average

White-rot and brown-rot fungi: two routes to lignin and cellulose decay

1 step

Mineral nitrogen released as litter decays represses ligninolytic enzymes and phenol oxidase in lignin-rich litter, slowing late-stage decay while speeding early cellulose decay

Show 3 more processes

Detrital energy channel

1 step

Dead plant tissue enters the detrital food web

Litter quality, climate and fauna control decay

1 step

Initial litter nitrogen and lignin set the decay rate

Temperature and moisture regulation of decay

1 step

Drying limits microbial activity but sunlight degrades dry litter

Often found with

Water 3 Dead organic matter 3 Potassium 3 Decomposers 3 Nitrogen 3 Dissolved organic carbon 2 Saprotrophic fungi 2 Litter 2 Lignin 2 Bacteria 2 Fungi 2 Rain 1

Known by 719 participants and resources across the map.