Forest litter decomposition is an essential component of global carbon and nutrient turnover. Invertebrates play important roles in litter decomposition, but the regional pattern of their effects is poorly understood. We examined 476 case studies across 93 sites and performed a meta‐analysis to estimate regional effects of invertebrates on forest litter decomposition. We then assessed how invertebrate diversity, climate and soil pH drive regional variations in invertebrate‐mediated decomposition. We found that (1) invertebrate contributions to litter decomposition are 1.4 times higher in tropical and subtropical forests than in forests elsewhere, with an overall contribution of 31% to global forest litter decomposition; and (2) termite diversity, together with warm, humid and acidic environments in the tropics and subtropics are positively associated with forest litter decomposition by invertebrates. Our results demonstrate the significant difference in invertebrate effects on mediating forest litter decomposition among regions. We demonstrate, also, the significance of termites in driving litter mass loss in the tropics and subtropics. These results are particularly pertinent in the tropics and subtropics where climate change and human disturbance threaten invertebrate biodiversity and the ecosystem services it provides.

中文翻译：

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无脊椎动物对森林凋落物分解的全球贡献

森林凋落物分解是全球碳和养分周转的重要组成部分。无脊椎动物在凋落物分解中发挥着重要作用，但其影响的区域模式却知之甚少。我们检查了 93 个地点的 476 个案例研究，并进行了荟萃分析，以估计无脊椎动物对森林凋落物分解的区域影响。然后，我们评估了无脊椎动物多样性、气候和土壤 pH 值如何驱动无脊椎动物介导的分解的区域变化。我们发现（1）热带和亚热带森林中无脊椎动物对凋落物分解的贡献是其他森林的1.4倍，对全球森林凋落物分解的总体贡献为31%； (2)白蚁多样性以及热带和亚热带温暖、潮湿和酸性环境与无脊椎动物的森林凋落物分解呈正相关。我们的结果表明，无脊椎动物在调节森林凋落物分解方面的作用在不同地区之间存在显着差异。我们还证明了白蚁在热带和亚热带地区造成垃圾质量损失的重要性。这些结果在热带和亚热带地区尤其重要，那里的气候变化和人类干扰威胁着无脊椎动物的生物多样性及其提供的生态系统服务。