Do woodlice and earthworms interact synergistically in leaf litter decomposition?

Summary 1In laboratory microcosms, we investigated the influence of diversity of both leaf litter and detritivores on decomposition processes. Either woodlice or earthworms, or a combination of woodlice and earthworms, fed on leaf litter of either oak or alder, or oak and alder for 8 weeks. Mass loss of leaf litter, soil microbial respiration and soil nutrient concentrations were determined every 2 weeks. 2For four out of seven decomposition parameters, the joint effects of woodlice and earthworms were stronger than the sum of single-species effects when they had fed on alder litter. When feeding on oak litter, however, woodlice and earthworms together revealed lower decomposition rates than predicted from their single effects. Joint effects of detritivores on decomposition of mixed litter were always lower than predicted from the sum of their effects. 3In mixed-litter assays, we obtained intermediate values of decomposition parameters, indicating that doubling the species richness of leaf litter from one to two species did not promote decomposition processes. Effects of mixing litter were, thus, mostly additive; essentially only when earthworms fed on mixed litter we observed, mostly positive, non-additive effects of diverse litter. 4Our findings provide evidence for a potential effect on ecosystem functioning through joint action of detritivores even at low species diversity, while litter diversity seems to be less significant. On high-quality litter, isopods and earthworms are not functionally redundant but act synergistically on litter decomposition. The effects of detritivore diversity on ecosystem processes, however, are context-specific and depend on the quality and diversity of the available food sources, and on species-specific characteristics of the detritivores.