Decomposition of Microstegium vimineum litter, plants grew through the Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge in 2019. Litter used in this experiment naturally senesced in the fall 2019, decomposition data collected through 2020. Plants were infected or not-infected with the foliar fungal pathogen Bipol

Decomposition of plant litter, facilitated primarily by microbial decomposers, plays a critical role in biogeochemical cycling and ecosystem function. Emerging pathogens have the potential to impact litter decomposition by altering the chemical composition and associated microbial community of host tissue. Here, we compared litter decomposition of the invasive grass Microstegium vimineum collected from sites with Bipolaris leaf spot symptoms and sites with no apparent disease symptoms in a common garden experiment. Our results revealed that leaf tissue from litter from non-infected sites decomposed more rapidly through the spring than litter from infected sites. Differences in fungal composition between infected and non-infected litter at the start of the experiment largely persisted through the summer. Our work demonstrates that pathogen colonization may facilitate the persistence of infected host litter, potentially slowing the return of nutrients to the environmental pool while also promoting the survival and dispersal of primary inoculum the following season.