Climatic stress-induced changes in plant chemistry alter the compound-specific degradation of litter during decomposition

Plant litter decomposition supports ecosystem productivity and influences soil carbon cycling. Drought directly impacts decomposition by decreasing soil moisture and indirectly by altering plant tissue chemistry, an aspect that is less explored in decomposition research.
To elucidate the above interactive effects of altered precipitation on litter decomposition, we conducted an in situ and reciprocal decomposition experiment at a climate manipulation experiment (BACE) in MA, USA, using litter from Quercus rubra and Quercus velutina exposed to ambient, dry, and wet precipitation treatments for four years at BACE.
Plant tissues exposed to dry litter origin treatment were enriched in alkyl compounds and lignin in both species. Litter of Q. rubra from the dry treatment initially decomposed faster in the dry (38%) than in the wet treatment (28%). Similarly, litter of Q. rubra from the wet treatment initially decomposed faster in the wet (40%) compared to the dry (25%) treatment. Interes..., , # Climatic stress-induced changes in plant chemistry alter the compound-specific degradation of litter during decomposition

The dataset Metadata_Zhang_et_al._New_Phytologist.xlsx includes (1) 'DRIFT-undecomposed QR', (2) 'DRIFT-undecomposed QV', (3)'DRIFT-decomposed QR', (4) 'DRIFT-decomposed QV', (5) 'Mass loss_QR Year 1', (6) 'Mass loss_QR Year 2', (7) 'Mass loss_QV Year 1', (8) 'Mass loss_QV Year 2', and (9) 'Soil Ergosterol' and (10) 'Phenol oxidase. In the metadata file, QR refers to Quercus rubra, QV refers to Quercus velutina, and DRIFT refers to Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform spectroscopy.  

## Description of the data and file structure

Data in the sheets of (1) 'DRIFT-undecomposed QR', and (2) 'DRIFT-undecomposed QV', are organized by the wave number of DRIFT named as 'DRIFT peaks', followed by the treatments 'QR_Dry litter', 'QR_Wet litter' and 'QR_Ambient litter', which indicates the undecomposed litter collected from the dry, wet and ambient precipitation ...,