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Several human activities often result in increased nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) inputs to running waters through runoff. Although headwater streams are less frequently affected by these inputs than downstream reaches, the joint effects of moderate eutrophication and global warming can affect the functioning of these ecosystems, which represent two thirds of total river length and thus are of major global relevance. In a microcosm study representing streams from a temperate area (northern Spain), we assessed the combined effects of increased water temperature (10.0, 12.5, and 15.0 °C) and nutrient enrichment (control, high N, high P, and high N + P concentrations) on the key process of leaf litter decomposition (mediated by microorganisms and detritivores) and associated changes in different biological compartments (leaf litter, aquatic hyphomycetes and detritivores). While warming consistently enhanced decomposition rates and associated variables (leaf litter microbial conditioning, aquatic hyphomycete sporulation rate and taxon richness, and detritivore growth and nutrient contents), effects of eutrophication were weaker and more variable: P addition inhibited decomposition, addition of N + P promoted leaf litter conditioning, and detritivore stoichiometry was affected by the addition of both nutrients separately or together. In only a few cases (variables related to detritivore performance, but not microbial performance or leaf litter decomposition) we found interactions between warming and eutrophication, which contrasts with other experiments reporting synergistic effects. Our results suggest that both stressors can importantly alter the functioning of stream ecosystems even when occurring in isolation, although non-additive effects should not be neglected and might require exploring an array of ecosystem processes (not just leaf litter decomposition) in order to be detected., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Understanding how biodiversity loss influences plant litter decomposition-that is, the biologically mediated conversion of coarse to fine particulate organic matter-is crucial to predict changes in the functioning of many stream ecosystems, where detrital food webs are dominant. Rates of litter decomposition are influenced by detritivore diversity, but the mechanisms behind this relationship are uncertain. As differences in detritivore body size are a major determinant of interspecific interactions, they should be key for predicting effects of detritivore diversity on decomposition. To explore this question, we manipulated detritivore diversity and body size simultaneously in a microcosm experiment using two small (Leuctra geniculata and Lepidostoma hirtum) and two large detritivore species (Sericostoma pyrenaicum and Echinogammarus berilloni) in all possible 1-, 2- and 4-species combinations, and litter discs of Alnus glutinosa. We expected that larger species would facilitate smaller species through the production of smaller litter fragments, resulting in faster decomposition and greater growth of smaller species in polycultures containing species of different body size. To examine this hypothesis, we used a set of "diversity-interaction" models that explored how decomposition was affected by different interspecific interactions and the role of body size, and quantified the magnitude of such effect through ratios of decomposition rates and detritivore growth between polycultures and monocultures. We found a clear positive effect of detritivore diversity on decomposition, which was mainly explained by facilitation and niche partitioning. Facilitation of small animals by larger ones was evidenced by a 12% increase in decomposition rates in polycultures compared to monocultures and the higher growth (20%) of small species, which partly fed on fine particulate organic matter produced by larger animals. When the large species were together in polycultures, decomposition was enhanced by 19%, but there were no changes in growth; niche partitioning was a plausible mechanism behind the increase in decomposition rates, as both species fed on different parts of litter discs, only one species being able to eat less palatable parts. Our study demonstrates that interspecific differences in body size should be taken into account in diversity-decomposition studies. Future studies should also consider differences in species' vulnerability to extinction depending on body size and how this might affect ecosystem functioning in different scenarios of detritivore diversity and more complex food webs., (© 2018 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology © 2018 British Ecological Society.)

Biodiversity loss in riparian forests has the potential to alter rates of leaf litter decomposition in stream ecosystems. However, studies have reported the full range of positive, negative and no effects of plant diversity loss on decomposition, and there is currently no explanation for such inconsistent results. Furthermore, it is uncertain whether plant diversity loss affects other ecological processes related to decomposition, such as fine particulate organic matter production or detritivore growth, which precludes a thorough understanding of how detrital stream food webs are impacted by plant diversity loss. We used a microcosm experiment to examine the effects of plant diversity loss on litter decomposition, fine particulate organic matter production, and growth of a dominant leaf-shredding detritivore, using litter mixtures varying in species composition. We hypothesized that plant diversity loss would decrease the rates of all studied processes, but such effects would depend on the leaf traits present in litter mixtures (both their average values and their variability). Our findings partly supported our hypotheses, showing that plant diversity loss had a consistently negative effect on litter decomposition and fine particulate organic matter production (but not on detritivore growth) across litter mixtures, which was mediated by detritivores. Importantly, the magnitude of the diversity effect and the relative importance of different mechanisms underlying this effect (i.e., complementarity vs. selection) varied depending on the species composition of litter mixtures, mainly because of differences in litter nutritional quality and trait variability. Complementarity was prevalent but varied in size, with positive selection effects also occurring in some mixtures. Our results support the notion that loss of riparian plant species is detrimental to key stream ecosystem processes that drive detrital food webs, but that the magnitude of such effects largely depends on the the order of species loss., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Plant litter represents a major basal resource in streams, where its decomposition is partly regulated by litter traits. Litter-trait variation may determine the latitudinal gradient in decomposition in streams, which is mainly microbial in the tropics and detritivore-mediated at high latitudes. However, this hypothesis remains untested, as we lack information on large-scale trait variation for riparian litter. Variation cannot easily be inferred from existing leaf-trait databases, since nutrient resorption can cause traits of litter and green leaves to diverge. Here we present the first global-scale assessment of riparian litter quality by determining latitudinal variation (spanning 107°) in litter traits (nutrient concentrations; physical and chemical defences) of 151 species from 24 regions and their relationships with environmental factors and phylogeny. We hypothesized that litter quality would increase with latitude (despite variation within regions) and traits would be correlated to produce 'syndromes' resulting from phylogeny and environmental variation. We found lower litter quality and higher nitrogen:phosphorus ratios in the tropics. Traits were linked but showed no phylogenetic signal, suggesting that syndromes were environmentally determined. Poorer litter quality and greater phosphorus limitation towards the equator may restrict detritivore-mediated decomposition, contributing to the predominance of microbial decomposers in tropical streams.

The decomposition of plant litter is one of the most important ecosystem processes in the biosphere and is particularly sensitive to climate warming. Aquatic ecosystems are well suited to studying warming effects on decomposition because the otherwise confounding influence of moisture is constant. By using a latitudinal temperature gradient in an unprecedented global experiment in streams, we found that climate warming will likely hasten microbial litter decomposition and produce an equivalent decline in detritivore-mediated decomposition rates. As a result, overall decomposition rates should remain unchanged. Nevertheless, the process would be profoundly altered, because the shift in importance from detritivores to microbes in warm climates would likely increase CO(2) production and decrease the generation and sequestration of recalcitrant organic particles. In view of recent estimates showing that inland waters are a significant component of the global carbon cycle, this implies consequences for global biogeochemistry and a possible positive climate feedback., (© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd/CNRS.)