A litter-slurry technique elucidates the key role of enzyme production and microbial dynamics in temperature sensitivity of organic matter decomposition

The rate at which organic matter decomposes generally increases with temperature, unless it is physico-chemically protected from enzymatic depolymerization. The temperature sensitivity of decomposition should increase with decreasing reaction rates, corresponding to increasing activation energy of the decomposing compounds. One approach to testing this carbon-quality temperature hypothesis is to study the effect of temperature on leaf litter decomposition, because fresh surface litter is unprotected. However, other factors such as humidity co-vary with temperature, and biological processes such as enzyme production and microbial population growth may also be thermally sensitive. We developed a litter slurry approach to isolate the effect of temperature and litter quality on decomposition. We found that pine litter decomposed faster than oak litter, consistent with a lower C:N and lignin:N ratio. During the first 14 days of decomposition, there was no difference in decomposition rate for litter incubated at 25 °C compared to 35 °C. Lower potential enzyme activity at 35 °C suggested that enzyme production was suppressed at 35 °C compared to 25 °C, resulting in similar in situ enzyme activities at the two temperatures. After 14 days, enzyme pools were similar between the two incubation temperatures, which resulted in faster decomposition at the warmer temperature, consistent with enzyme kinetic theory. At Day 14, the decomposition rate of the high quality pine litter was more temperature sensitive than the decomposition rate of the lower quality oak litter, suggesting that the quality of soluble pool rather than bulk chemistry determined the temperature sensitivity during this stage. After 28 days of incubation, oak litter decomposition was more temperature sensitive than pine litter, consistent with the carbon temperature-quality hypothesis. The litter slurry approach revealed that biological responses to temperature can affect the apparent temperature sensitivity of decomposition, and highlight a need for further research into microbial responses to temperature.