Microenvironmental variability differently predicts microorganism- and fauna-driven litter decomposition

Plant litter decomposition is a key process for ecosystem carbon and nutrient cycling. Growing evidence suggests that substantial variation in litter decomposition occurs at a fine scale, but the contributions of microorganism- and fauna-driven decomposition to this variation, and the relative control of biotic and abiotic drivers over this variation, remain virtually unexplored. To address this knowledge gap, we used a spatially explicit network of 113 evenly spread plots in a 9-ha subtropical coniferous forest to evaluate the variation and controls of microorganism- and fauna-driven decomposition at a scale where macroclimate, dominant vegetation, and litter quality are kept constant. Despite keeping dominant decomposition drivers constant, the variation in decomposition was larger than that commonly reported in regional studies and amounted to ca. a third of the variation previously reported at the global scale. Furthermore, while abiotic factors, including topographic cond..., Study areaWe conducted this experiment in a subtropical forest located in the Yingzuijie National Nature Reserve (26°46' N - 26°59' N, 109°49' E - 109°58' E, 270 - 938 m a.s.l), within Huitong County, Hunan province, China. All fieldwork was conducted with the authorization of the Hunan Huitong National Research Station of Forest Ecosystem. The site has a humid mid-subtropical monsoon climate characterised by a mean annual temperature of 16.5 °C and a mean annual precipitation of 1,200 mm. The soil is classified as Anthrosols and Alisols (IUSS Working Group WRB, 2022). The stand structure corresponds to a forest plantation with Chinese fir as the dominant tree species (30-year-old stems and 29 m2 ha-1 basal area) with an initial planting density of 2 m × 2.3 m after clear-cut and burning. During the stand development, native woody species regenerated, including Camellia oleifera, Itea omeiensis, and Loropetalum chinense. We focused our study on a 9-ha (300 m × 300 m) area, which is divi..., , # Data from: Microenvironmental variability differently predicts microorganism- and fauna-driven litter decomposition

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.zw3r228cn](10.5061/dryad.zw3r228cn)

## Description of the data and file structure

We compiled a dataset comprising the decomposition rate and abiotic and biotic microenvironmental factors in order to predict litter decomposition. This was based on a spatially explicit network of 113 evenly distributed plots within a 9-hectare Chinese fir plantation located in the Yingzuijie National Nature Reserve (26°46' N - 26°59' N, 109°49' E - 109°58' E, 270 - 938 m a.s.l) in Huitong County, Hunan Province, China.
### Files and variables

#### File: Original_values_of_different_litterbags.csv

**Description:**  The file named ‘Original values of different litterbags.csv“ contains the mass loss and k for each litterbag.

##### Variables

* **no_plot**: the count of the 113 plots
* **replicate**: the count of replicate litterbags in each plot.
* **Plot**:...,