Data from: Tropical shift in decomposers’ relative contribution to leaf litter breakdown in two Guinean streams

The hypothesis that leaf litter breakdown in Guinean streams is governed by microorganisms was confirmed, supporting the reported latitudinal shift in decomposers’ contribution to this process. The large body size of dominant macroinvertebrate decomposers (shrimps) only partially compensated for their very low densities. In contrast with other tropical regions mostly dominated by insect larvae, the functional consequences of global warming on these stream ecosystems may be less severe due to the lower sensitivity of crustaceans to temperature increase.

几内亚溪流中叶片凋落物分解由微生物主导这一假说已得到证实，该结果支持了此前报道的分解者对该过程的贡献存在纬度梯度变化的结论。优势大型无脊椎动物分解者（虾类，shrimps）的庞大个体体型仅能部分弥补其极低种群密度带来的不足。与多数以昆虫幼虫为优势类群的其他热带区域不同，由于甲壳类动物对温度升高的敏感性更低，全球变暖对这类溪流生态系统所造成的功能层面影响或相对较轻。