Oikos OIK-00056
Jackson, B. G., Peltzer, D: A. and Wardle, D. A. 2012. Are functional traits and litter decomposability coordinated across leaves, twigs, and wood? A test using temperate rainforest tree species. – Oikos 000: 000–000.
Appendix 1 Table A1. Species names, abbreviations and families of the 27 New Zealand tree species used in the study
Species Abbreviation Family
Angiosperms
Aristotelia serrata ARISER Elaeocarpaceae
Carpodetus serratus CARSER Escalloniaceaee
Fuchsia excorticata FUCEXC Onagraceae
Griselinia littoralis GRILIT Griseliniaceae
Hedycarya arborea HEDARB Monimiaceae
Melicytus ramiflorus MELRAM Violaceae
Metrosideros umbellata METUMB Myrtaceae
Myrsine australis MYRAUS Myrsinaceae
Neomyrtus pedunculata NEOPED Myrtaceae
Nothofagus cliffortioides NOTCLI Nothofagaceae
Nothofagus fusca NOTFUS Nothofagaceae
Pittosporum eugenioides PITEUG Pittosporaceae
Pseudowintera colorata PSECOL Winteraceae
Pseudopanax crassifolius PSECRA Araliaceae
Quintinia acutifolia QUIAQU Paracryphiaceae
Raukaua simplex RAUSIM Araliaceae
Schefflera digitata SCHDIG Araliaceae
Weinmannia racemosa WEIRAC Cunoniaceae
Gymnosperms
Dacrydium cupressinum DACCUP Podocarpaceae Dacrycarpus dacrydioides DACDAC Podocarpaceae
Libocedrus bidwillii LIBBID Cupressaceae
Manoao colensoi MANCOL Podocarpaceae
Phyllocladus alpinus PHYALP Podocarpaceae
Prumnopitys taxifolia PRUTAX Podocarpaceae
Podocarpus totara PODTOT Podocarpaceae
Podocarpus hallii PODHAL Podocarpaceae
Prumnopitys ferruginea PRUFER Podocarpaceae Table A2. Trait ranges (and mean values given in brackets) of the green leaves and leaf, twig and wood litter traits of 18 angiosperm and nine gymnosperm New Zealand tree species. Significant differences (Welch’s t-test, p < 0.05) between angiosperm and gymnosperm mean trait values are shown in bold
Trait Angiosperm Gymnosperm t (p-value) Leaves C (%) 45.4 – 53.7 (48.8) 50.5 – 54.4 (51.9) 4.46 (< 0.001) N (%) 0.70 – 2.12 (1.38) 0.69 – 1.63 (1.07) 1.69 (0.103) P (%) 0.05 – 0.28 (0.123) 0.06 – 0.17 (0.115) 0.36 (0.718) C/N 21.6 – 71.0 (40.8) 31.5 – 79.2 (52.4) 1.89 (0.070) C/P 162.1 – 934.5 (492.5) 319.5 – 934.1 (524.4) 0.51 (0.618) Specific leaf area (m2 kg-1) 4.6 – 18.0 (11.0) 3.2 – 8.6 (5.0) 4.30 (< 0.001) Leaf dry matter content (mg g-1) 0.20 – 0.50 (0.364) 0.38 – 0.48 (0.44) 3.54 (0.002) Leaf litter C (%) 44.2 – 55.7 (48.5) 50.7 – 56.0 (52.7) 4.15 (< 0.001) N (%) 0.45 – 1.34 (0.85) 0.33 – 1.92 (0.96) 0.72 (0.478) P (%) 0.02 – 0.22 (0.075) 0.03 – 0.14 (0.075) 0.19 (0.850) C/N 33.2 – 111.9 (68.3) 27.1 – 167.0 (68.2) 0.16 (0.875) C/P 201.6 – 2047.9 (910.9) 383.7 – 1840.0 (916.8) 0.03 (0.978) Lignin (%) 4.3 – 31.3 (17.8) 14.2 – 51.2 (38.8) 4.34 (0.001) Lignin/N 3.2 – 64.5 (26.5) 11.4 – 90.4 (49.1) 2.27 (0.032) Phenolics (%) 0.50 – 13.0 (6.3) 2.0 – 14.0 (4.3) 0.38 (0.710) Twig litter C (%) 45.1 – 52.8 (49.8) 50.9 – 54.5 (52.0) 3.72 (0.001) N (%) 0.46 – 1.91 (0.86) 0.45 – 1.01 (0.68) 1.45 (0.161) P (%) 0.03 – 0.27 (0.106) 0.03 – 0.07 (0.054) 3.24 (0.004) C/N 25.6 – 113.3 (66.9) 51.9 – 116.2 (81.3) 1.53 (0.137) C/P 170.2 – 1687.4 (647.8) 721.2 – 1876.0 (1035.9) 3.45 (0.002) Lignin (%) 12.3 – 37.5 (24.1) 23.2 – 47.9 (37.3) 3.87 (< 0.001) Lignin/N 8.9 – 82.2 (33.2) 36.1 – 106.6 (58.2) 3.03 (0.006) Phenolics (%) 0.56 – 11.27 (4.07) 3.06 – 11.67 (6.09) 2.37 (0.027) Wood litter C (%) 48.1 – 50.3 (48.9) 50.03 – 51.49 (50.72) 7.68 (< 0.001) N (%) 0.09 – 0.33 (0.18) 0.15 – 0.22 (0.18) 0.04 (0.970) P (%) 0 .0046 – 0.061 (0.019) 0.0035 – 0.0103 (0.006) 4.23 (< 0.001) C/N 146.3 – 563.9 (304.8) 231.5 – 332.4 (286.2) 0.66 (0.514) C/P 794 – 10468 (4261) 4940 – 14223 (9229) 4.39 (< 0.001) Lignin (%) 9.5 – 41.8 (20.7) 31.0 – 37.0 (33.4) 5.89 (< 0.001) Lignin/N 51.5 – 341.8 (127.7) 151.0 – 238.9 (188.0) 4.03 (< 0.001) Phenolics (%) 0.52 – 6.24 (1.96) 0.66 – 3.18 (1.36) 0.73 (0.475) Lumen fraction (%) 10.9 – 41.2 (23.8) 27.87 – 43.91 (34.5) 4.23 (< 0.001) Kp (kg m s-1 Mpa-1)* 194.8 – 834.2 (520.2) 543.1 – 726.1 (626.9) 2.46 (0.021) Density (g cm-3) 0.47 – 1.08 (0.73) 0.44 – 0.67 (0.56) 3.79 (< 0.001) *Kp – potential hydraulic conductivity Table A3. Eigenvector scores of traits for the first and second axes from the ordinations of the matrix of 27 New Zealand tree species and the functional traits of their green leaves and leaf, twig and wood litter
Leaf PCA Leaf litter PCA Twig litter PCA Wood litter PCA Species Trait Axis 1 Axis 2 Axis 1 Axis 2 Axis 1 Axis 2 Axis 1 Axis 2
All species C % 0.428 –0.255 0.509 –0.408 0.527 0.212 –0.501 0.263
(n = 27) N % –0.463 –0.039 –0.437 –0.460 –0.370 0.702 0.237 0.595
P % –0.415 –0.169 –0.546 –0.289 –0.510 0.286 0.449 0.399
lignin % - - 0.459 –0.545 0.458 0.213 –0.364 0.422
phenolics % 0.100 0.940 0.201 0.491 0.340 0.579 –0.006 –0.437
SLA –0.457 0.145 ------
LDMC 0.460 –0.014 ------
Kp ------–0.406 –0.113
density ------0.440 –0.188 Variance explained by axis % 60.5 16.9 43.5 29.7 61.4 19.6 35.7 23.5 Table A4. Eigenvector scores of traits for the first and second axes from the ordinations of the matrices of angiosperm and gymnosperm New
Zealand tree species and the functional traits of their green leaves and leaf, twig and wood litter
Leaf PCA Leaf litter PCA Twig litter PCA Wood litter PCA Species Trait Axis 1 Axis 2 Axis 1 Axis 2 Axis 1 Axis 2 Axis 1 Axis 2 Angiosperms C % 0.410 0.245 0.491 –0.444 0.529 0.185 –0.376 –0.354 (n = 18) N % –0.472 0.099 –0.452 –0.573 –0.341 0.702 –0.336 0.459 P % –0.459 0.194 –0.496 –0.449 –0.487 0.361 –0.262 0.582 lignin % - - 0.484 –0.303 0.463 0.236 –0.447 –0.043 phenolics % –0.044 –0.945 0.275 –0.426 0.389 0.535 –0.140 –0.530 SLA –0.458 0.010 ------LDMC 0.433 –0.004 ------Kp ------0.542 –0.003 density ------–0.406 –0.203
Variance explained by axis % 62.7 17.8 52.3 21.5 61.0 23.3 32.1 28.9
Gymnosperms C % 0.095 0.632 0.468 -0.093 0.506 –0.165 –0.468 0.213 (n = 9) N % –0.425 0.257 –0.487 –0.151 –0.316 –0.663 –0.035 –0.418 P % –0.519 0.138 –0.583 0.095 –0.498 –0.455 –0.174 –0.701 Lignin % - - 0.291 –0.713 0.519 –0.402 –0.481 –0.150 Phenolics % 0.542 0.021 0.347 0.672 –0.355 0.405 –0.496 0.155 SLA 0.039 –0.664 ------LDMC 0.495 0.273 ------Kp ------–0.414 0.346 Density ------0.318 0.349
Variance explained by axis % 45.7 28.3 46.8 28.9 45.7 32.7 49.4 22.9
Table A5. Linear R2 values (p-values in brackets) of the relationships between the N loss of each of three litter types (leaf litter, twig litter and wood litter) and the traits of the litters, for 27 New Zealand tree species decomposed under controlled conditions. Data in bold indicate significance at p <
0.05
Trait N loss - all species N loss - angiosperms N loss - gymnosperms
Leaf litter Twig litter Wood litter Leaf litter Twig litter Wood litter Leaf litter Twig litter Wood litter
C % 0.088 (0.133) 0.119 (0.079) 0.101 (0.105) 0.189 (0.072) 0.213 (0.054) 0.011 (0.673) 0.147 (0.308) 0.000 (0.985) 0.239 (0.182)
P % 0.254 (0.007) 0.358 (0.001) 0.006 (0.693) 0.327 (0.013) 0.405 (0.005) 0.209 (0.057) 0.121 (0.36) 0.166 (0.277) 0.028 (0.666)
C/P 0.267 (0.006) 0.357 (0.001) 0.005 (0.728) 0.347 (0.001) 0.408 (0.004) 0.206 (0.059) 0.128 (0.345) 0.157 (0.291) 0.025 (0.688)
Lignin (%) 0.006 (0.704) 0.038 (0.331) 0.080 (0.152) 0.074 (0.274) 0.027 (0.518) 0.010 (0.693) 0.047 (0.576) 0.000 (0.993) 0.361 (0.087)
Phenolics (%) 0.172 (0.031) 0.252 (0.011) 0.120 (0.077) 0.104 (0.193) 0.231 (0.060) 0.077 (0.266) 0.613 (0.013) 0.348 (0.095) 0.326 (0.109)
Lumen fraction - - 0.024 (0.439) - - 0.313 (0.016) - - 0.366 (0.085)
Kp (kg m s-1 Mpa-1)* - - 0.002 (0.805) - - 0.038 (0.438) - - 0.152 (0.300) Density (g cm-3) - - 0.026 (0.418) - - 0.241 (0.038) - - 0.550 (0.022) Spurious relationships with the traits N%, C/N and Lignin/N excluded; *Kp – potential hydraulic conductivity; Table A6. Linear R2 values (p-values in brackets) of the relationships between the P loss of each of three litter types (leaf litter, twig litter and wood litter) and the traits of the litters, for 27 New Zealand tree species decomposed under controlled conditions. Data in bold indicate significance at p <
0.05
Trait P loss - all species (n = 27) P loss - angiosperms (n = 18) P loss - gymnosperms (n = 9)
Leaf litter Twig litter Wood litter Leaf litter Twig litter Wood litter Leaf litter Twig litter Wood litter
C % 0.081 (0.150) 0.358 (< 0.001) 0.121 (0.075) 0.08 (0.254) 0.456 (0.002) 0.021 (0.564) 0.713 (0.004) 0.043 (0.593) 0.102 (0.402)
N % 0.060 (0.218) 0.396 (< 0.001) 0.109 (0.092) 0.084 (0.242) 0.470 (0.002) 0.144 (0.121) 0.028 (0.669) 0.032 (0.645) 0.164 (0.280)
C/N 0.106 (0.097) 0.389 (< 0.001) 0.110 (0.091) 0.111 (0.177) 0.498 (0.001) 0.151 (0.111) 0.097 (0.415) 0.045 (0.584) 0.168 (0.274)
Lignin (%) 0.104 (0.101) 0.269 (0.006) 0.003 (0.800) 0.165 (0.094) 0.317 (0.015) 0.049 (0.375) 0.293 (0.132) 0.062 (0.517) 0.008 (0.823)
Lignin/N 0.164 (0.036) 0.520 (< 0.001) 0.062 (0.211) 0.185 (0.075) 0.624 (< 0.001) 0.009 (0.711) 0.292 (0.133) 0.082 (0.455) 0.126 (0.349)
Phenolics (%) 0.002 (0.815) 0.363 (0.001) 0.183 (0.026) 0.000 (0.941) 0.389 (0.010) 0.333 (0.012) 0.019 (0.724) 0.055 (0.545) 0.017 (0.739)
Lumen fraction 0.157 (0.041) - - 0.103 (0.194) - - 0.011 (0.786)
1Kp (kg m s-1 Mpa-1) 0.085 (0.141) - - 0.028 (0.504) - - 0.259 (0.162) Density (g cm-3) 0.015 (0.537) - - 0.000 (0.987) - - 0.200 (0.227) Spurious relationships with the traits P % and C/P excluded; Kp – potential hydraulic conductivity;
Table A7. Linear R2 (p-values in brackets), between the principle components (two primary axes; Axis 1 and Axis 2) summarizing the trait data for each of four plant parts (green leaves, and leaf, twig and wood litters), and the N loss of leaf, twig and wood litters of 27 New Zealand tree species decomposed under controlled conditions. Data in bold indicate significance at p < 0.05
PCA Axis N loss - all species N loss - angiosperms N loss - gymnosperms
Leaf litter Twig litter Wood litter Leaf litter Twig litter Wood litter Leaf litter Twig litter Wood litter
Leaf axis 1 0.053 (0.249) 0.072 (0.175) 0.003 (0.801) 0.055 (0.350) 0.015 (0.626) 0.085 (0.241) 0.124 (0.353) 0.544 (0.023) 0.001 (0.929)
Leaf axis 2 0.015 (0.537) 0.087 (0.135) 0.051 (0.256) 0.042 (0.417) 0.060 (0.329) 0.137 (0.130) 0.070 (0.493) 0.013 (0.772) 0.082 (0.456)
Leaf litter axis 1 0.238 (0.010) 0.294 (0.003) 0.050 (0.262) 0.378 (0.007) 0.205 (0.059) 0.254 (0.033) 0.202 (0.225) 0.304 (0.124) 0.001 (0.943)
Leaf litter axis 2 0.131 (0.064) 0.079 (0.157) 0.170 (0.033) 0.024 (0.540) 0.102 (0.197) 0.004 (0.792) 0.423 (0.058) 0.014 (0.758) 0.114 (0.375)
Twig litter axis 1 0.000 (0.971) 0.278 (0.007) 0.013 (0.590) 0.001 (0.918) 0.294 (0.030) 0.214 (0.071) 0.018 (0.729) 0.012 (0.777) 0.185 (0.248)
Twig litter axis 2 0.008 (0.671) 0.028 (0.422) 0.003 (0.797) 0.001 (0.918) 0.062 (0.352) 0.003 (0.843) 0.096 (0.418) 0.344 (0.097) 0.000 (0.990)
Wood litter axis 1 0.005 (0.736) 0.092 (0.124) 0.003 (0.785) 0.006 (0.770) 0.189 (0.072) 0.243 (0.038) 0.093 (0.426) 0.019 (0.727) 0.462 (0.044)
Wood litter axis 2 0.089 (0.130) 0.164 (0.036) 0.474 (< 0.001) 0.127 (0.148) 0.185 (0.075) 0.245 (0.037) 0.031 (0.652) 0.031 (0.650) 0.010 (0.802)
Table A8. Linear R2 (p-values in brackets), between the principle components (two primary axes; Axis 1 and Axis 2) summarizing the trait data for each of the four plant parts (green leaves, and leaf, twig and wood litters), and the P loss of leaf, twig and wood litters of 27 New Zealand tree species decomposed under controlled conditions. Data in bold indicate significance at p < 0.05
PCA Axis P loss - all species P loss - angiosperms P loss - gymnosperms
Leaf litter Twig litter Wood litter Leaf litter Twig litter Wood litter Leaf litter Twig litter Wood litter
Leaf axis 1 0.102 (0.105) 0.089 (0.130) 0.087 (0.136) 0.150 (0.112) 0.024 (0.538) 0.051 (0.369) 0.044 (0.590) 0.312 (0.118) 0.100 (0.408)
Leaf axis 2 0.030 (0.389) 0.162 (0.037) 0.028 (0.406) 0.095 (0.212) 0.154 (0.107) 0.116 (0.167) 0.499 (0.033) 0.099 (0.410) 0.039 (0.611)
Leaf litter axis 1 0.281 (0.004) 0.229 (0.012) 0.220 (0.014) 0.271 (0.027) 0.209 (0.057) 0.256 (0.032) 0.557 (0.021) 0.015 (0.757) 0.072 (0.486)
Leaf litter axis 2 0.008 (0.651) 0.024 (0.441) 0.001 (0.886) 0.016 (0.619) 0.001 (0.888) 0.043 (0.411) 0.065 (0.507) 0.071 (0.489) 0.074 (0.479)
Twig litter axis 1 0.047 (0.300) 0.557 (< 0.001) 0.354 (0.002) 0.037 (0.477) 0.674 (< 0.001) 0.558 (0.001) 0.429 (0.055) 0.010 (0.795) 0.037 (0.619)
Twig litter axis 2 0.008 (0.665) 0.007 (0.690) 0.008 (0.669) 0.012 (0.683) 0.024 (0.565) 0.027 (0.542) 0.019 (0.722) 0.048 (0.570) 0.131 (0.339)
Wood litter axis 1 0.048 (0.270) 0.144 (0.051) 0.253 (0.007) 0.013 (0.655) 0.067 (0.299) 0.061 (0.324) 0.022 (0.700) 0.003 (0.885) 0.005 (0.853)
Wood litter axis 2 0.064 (0.202) 0.155 (0.042) 0.185 (0.025) 0.302 (0.018) 0.346 (0.010) 0.457 (0.002) 0.034 (0.635) 0.391 (0.072) 0.962 (< 0.001)