Short rotation plantations of willows (Salix spp.) have high biomass production potential in many parts of the world, and may frequently support ecosystem services related to nutrient cycling. A plantation management enhancing favorable environmental impacts that are conducive to maintaining ecosystem services is a main challenge in establishing sustainable biomass production systems. There is evidence supporting the hypothesis that biomass production and nutrient cycling can be increased by supporting ecosystem niche differentiation (complementarity) through enhancing the number of plant species or varieties grown in the stand. However, the specific trait values of the individual components (e.g., varieties) in a mixed community could also be more important than the community diversity per se. We assessed, at community level, the plant trait profiles related to growth and nitrogen (N) use for four different Salix varieties that were taxonomically distinct at species or genotype level ('Björn', 'Jorr', 'Loden', 'Tora') and field-grown in unfertilized plots of pure and mixed commu-nities during one cutting cycle in Central Sweden. The aims were to use elements of functional growth analysis for exploring the mechanistic relationships between various traits related to growth and N use at stand level in our pure and mixed willow communities; and to address two hypotheses related to (i) the effect of diversity level on above-ground traits linked to growth, N uptake efficiency, N productivity and N conservation; and (ii) the influence of individual variety identities on the growth and N use traits observed in a mixture. Diversity level had no significant effect on the traits assessed here, and we thus found no evidence in support of our hypothesis that traits linked to growth, N uptake and use are significantly affected by the diversity level per se. In most but not all cases, the admixing effects on trait values were explained by the effects of the individual variety characteristics assessed in monocultures in combination with their relative share in the respective mixtures. The absence or presence of individual varieties strongly affected community-averaged (stand level) trait values. Therefore, the design of desirable variety mixtures is suggested that combine, for example, the high nutrient conversion efficiency that certain varieties achieve in mixed stands with the specific nutrient acquisition characteristics of other varieties.

Aims

Decomposition of leaf litter is influenced by litter quality as determined by plant genotype and environment, as well as climate and soil properties. We studied these drivers of decomposition in communities of Salix varieties, hypothesizing that decomposition rates would increase under warmer climate, in more diverse communities, and with increasing litter quality of the individual varieties.

Methods

Litter from four Salix varieties was incubated in three field trials across a latitudinal gradient from Central to Northern Europe. Litter and stand properties were measured and used as predictors of decomposition.

Results

No significant site differences in remaining mass or nitrogen were found. Instead, effects of initial leaf litter quality on decomposition were stronger than climatic effects. Litter quality of individual varieties strongly affected decomposition, while increasing litter diversity did not.

Conclusions

Decomposition was controlled by variety identity depending on site, indicating that local soil conditions affect litter quality (and thus decomposition) more than macroclimate. In mixed communities, varieties producing fast-decomposing litter enhanced the litter decomposition of other components producing slow-decomposing litter, and vice versa. This implies that site conditions partly determine which varieties affect community-level decomposition and nutrient release.