Table 1 The effects of climate, initial litter quality, and experimental condition on the response of litter decomposition rate (k-value), mass loss, remaining potassium, calcium, and cellulose to forest gaps (refer to Supplementary Table 1 for litterfall and remaining carbon and other nutrients)

From: Global forest gaps reduce litterfall but increase litter carbon and phosphorus release

Predictor

Decomposition

Remaining element

 

k-value

Mass loss

Potassium

Calcium

Cellulose

Climate

Elevation

0.11

−0.03

−0.01

−0.11

0.10

MAT

0.06

−0.02

−0.33

0.30

−0.45

MAP

−0.34**

−0.25*

−0.21

0.08

0.09

Initial litter quality

C:N ratio

−0.02

0.09*

0.26***

−0.16*

0.43***

Lignin concentration

−0.18**

−0.06

0.22*

0.06

−0.02

Experimental condition

Litterbag size

−0.03

−0.13

0.25

0.18

0.94

Litterbag mesh

0.02

0.02

−0.02

−0.03

−0.10*

  1. MAP mean annual precipitation, MAT mean annual temperature, C carbon, N nitrogen.
  2. Results are estimates of fixed effects from linear mixed-effects models, with asterisks indicating significant effects (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001).