Decomposition is essential to all ecosystems, both on land and in the ocean. In marine environments, decomposition and ...

Aims Grasslands are among the largest ecosystems in the world and store up to 30% of the global reserves of carbon. Decomposition processes have a crucial role in maintaining carbon balance, but few ...

An isopod, well-adapted to the harsh conditions of arid-lands, crawls on the desert floor in search of plant litter. New study reveals that in arid ecosystems, larger arthropods such as termites and ...

We investigated how forest composition, litter quality, and rainfall interact to affect leaf litter decomposition across three successional tropical dry forests in Costa Rica. We monitored litter ...

Researchers have shown that larger insects such as woodlice and beetles play as much of a crucial role in leaf litter decomposition across different habitats and seasons as microbes and smaller ...

The fast-moving decline and extinction of many species of detritivores -- organisms that break down and remove dead plant and animal matter -- may have dire consequences, an international team of ...