Evaluating the roles of microbial functional breadth and home-field advantage in leaf litter decomposition

Soil biota are increasingly recognized as a primary control on litter decomposition at both local and regional scales, but the precise mechanisms by which biota influence litter decomposition have yet to be identified. There are multiple hypothesized mechanisms by which biotic communities may influence litter decomposition – for example, decomposer communities may be specially adapted to local litter inputs and therefore decompose litter from their home ecosystem at elevated rates. This mechanism is known as the home-field advantage (HFA) hypothesis. Alternatively, litter decomposition rates may simply depend upon the range of metabolic functions present within a decomposer community. This mechanism is known as the functional breadth (FB) hypothesis. However, the relative importance of HFA and FB in litter decomposition are unknown, as are the microbial community drivers of HFA and FB. Potential relationships/tradeoffs between microbial HFA and FB are also unknown. To investigate the ro...