Data from: The phenology-substrate-match hypothesis explains decomposition rates of evergreen and deciduous oak leaves.

1. There is substantial evidence that the rate of litter decomposition is
affected by the match between the litter substrate and the soil matrix
(decomposer community). We introduce and test the
phenology-substrate-match hypothesis, which predicts that both litter
composition and soil matrix will change over the course of the year, and
that a lagged match between litter type and soil matrix will result in an
optimal decomposition environment. 2. We conducted a decomposition
experiment in a Mediterranean mixed deciduous-evergreen oak savanna in
California. We initiated litter decomposition of both a deciduous oak
(whose leaves fall in autumn) and an evergreen oak (whose leaves fall in
spring) in both autumn and spring. 3. Consistent with the
phenology-substrate-match hypothesis, we found that decomposition of
deciduous oak litter was accelerated compared to evergreen oak litter when
decomposition was initiated in spring, while evergreen litter was
accelerated compared to deciduous litter when decomposition was initiated
in autumn. 4. We also found a small effect of microsite on leaf
decomposition, where both evergreen and deciduous oak leaves decomposed
faster under the canopy of a conspecific. 5. Synthesis: Our study extends
theory of litter quality and the decomposer community into a temporal
context which may be an important source of variation in decomposition
rates when species with different litterfall phenologies co-occur.