A question of litter quality

A meeting of plant physiologists, ecologists and soil scientists examined the hypothesis that the changed chemistry of dead leaves, grown in an environment high in CO2, will mean that there will be a decline in the decomposition rate. It was concluded that there was insufficient evidence to support such a hypothesis. However other potential feedbacks on nitrogen availability are still important and there is still a need to distinguish the processes controlling decomposition in Co2-enriched ecosystems.