Decomposition study is “unnoticeable", because, who cares about “after life"? However, decomposition of plant litter is a critical process in carbon and nutrient cycles and may also affect carbon sequestration in soils in terrestrial ecosystems. In actual, the process of leaf litter decomposition has been well studied, and is now known to be basically controlled by climates (e.g., temperature and precipitation), plant litter quality (e.g., nitrogen and lignin), and decomposer organisms (e.g., microbes and animals). However, the factors affecting decomposition may still vary among types of plant materials (i.e., leaf, wood, and root) or ecosystems. Deeply understanding the underlying mechanisms of those processes are essential for better predicting the response of ecosystem function such as carbon cycling and sequestration to climate changes. In this symposium, we gather the various topics about decomposition processes, including diversity of decomposer fungi, photodegradation, home-field advantage effect, and wood and root decomposition. We will also have comments from the perspectives of below-ground diversity and ecosystem functioning, respectively, and have a discussion with audiences about the future direction of decomposition studies.

Commentators: Motohiro Hasegawa (Doshisha Univ.), Rota Wagai (Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences)