Scientists found that plant litter decomposes faster under its derived plant species, a phenomenon called home-field advantage (HFA).

Plant litter, such as fallen leaves, twigs, and branches, is a major source of organic matter and nutrients for soil microbes, which break down the litter and release the elements back into the soil. The rate of litter decomposition affects the carbon storage and nutrient availability in forests, which in turn influence plant growth, biodiversity, and climate change.

In a new study by researchers from China and France, the scientists used litterbags with two mesh sizes to manipulate the presence of bacteria only or bacteria and fungi in the decomposition process, and tested how litter quality and soil microbial community composition affect HFA using a transplant experiment of different litters from four temperate tree species.

The researchers found that HFA was stronger for litter with low nitrogen and phosphorus content in the fine-mesh litterbags, where only small-sized bacteria were present, indicating that the HFA effect was depended on the interaction between litter quality, soil properties (e.g., potassium content and dissolved organic carbon), and microbial community. They also found a negative correlation between HFA and the functional breadth (FB) of soil microbes, which is their ability to decompose a certain range of litter types, suggesting a tradeoff between specialization and generalization of soil microbes in litter decomposition.

This study, published in the journal Soil Biology and Biochemistry, sheds new light on the factors that influence the biogeochemical cycling of carbon and nutrients in forest ecosystems.