Ecosphere (Jul 2020)
Who gives a flux? Synchronous flowering of Coffea arabica accelerates leaf litter decomposition
Abstract
Abstract Coffee (Coffea arabica) flowers synchronously and flowers are only open for a few days before senescing. Flower petals often decompose easily, containing higher concentrations of nutrients relative to other plant tissues. Thus, a pulse of petals into the detrital pool could be beneficial for the decomposer community and accelerate decomposition processes. Our research assessed the magnitude of the pulse of petals within a shaded coffee farm, and the impact of petals on the litter arthropod community and on the rate of leaf litter decomposition. Three plots of 12 coffee plants were monitored throughout the flowering period to estimate the magnitude of the bloom. Pitfall traps were used to assess the litter arthropod community before and after flowering. Finally, litterbags with C. arabica leaves alone and C. arabica leaves with flower petals were used to compare the effect of petals on decomposition rates. The average number of flowers open per plant at the peak of the bloom was 792 flowers. When scaling to obtain an estimate per hectare in a year, our results indicate flower petals could contribute 26.27 kg of nitrogen, 2.03 kg of phosphorus, and 26.7 kg of potassium. The leaf litter community did not change during our sampling, suggesting that any community effects may be acting on a longer time scale or smaller spatial scale. Leaf litter decomposed nearly three times as quickly in litterbags that included flower petals, relative to litterbags with only C. arabica leaf litter in the first month and twice as fast in the second month. The rate of decomposition with petals exceeded the rate of decomposition without petals and was highest after one month, though the benefit continued after two months. Our results demonstrate that the presence of flower petals can accelerate short‐term decomposition processes.
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