The breakdown of plant material fuels soil functioning and biodiversity. Currently, process understanding of global decomposition patterns and the drivers of such patterns are hampered by the lack of coherent large‐scale datasets. We buried 36,000 individual litterbags (tea bags) worldwide and found an overall negative correlation between initial mass‐loss rates and stabilization factors of plant‐derived carbon, using the Tea Bag Index (TBI). The stabilization factor quantifies the degree to which easy‐to‐degrade components accumulate during early‐stage decomposition (e.g. by environmental limitations). However, agriculture and an interaction between moisture and temperature led to a decoupling between initial mass‐loss rates and stabilization, notably in colder locations. Using TBI improved mass‐loss estimates of natural litter compared to models that ignored stabilization. Ignoring the transformation of dead plant material to more recalcitrant substances during early‐stage decomposition, and the environmental control of this transformation, could overestimate carbon losses during early decomposition in carbon cycle models.

中文翻译：

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阅读世界范围内的茶叶：初始凋落物分解质量损失率和稳定性的解耦驱动因素

植物材料的分解促进了土壤功能和生物多样性。目前，由于缺乏连贯的大规模数据集，对全局分解模式及其驱动因素的过程理解受到阻碍。我们在全球掩埋了 36,000 个垃圾袋（茶袋），并使用茶袋指数 (TBI) 发现初始质量损失率与植物来源碳的稳定因子之间总体呈负相关。稳定因子量化了早期分解过程中易降解成分积累的程度（例如，由于环境限制）。然而，农业以及水分和温度之间的相互作用导致初始质量损失率和稳定性之间的脱钩，特别是在较冷的地区。与忽略稳定性的模型相比，使用 TBI 改进了自然垃圾的质量损失估计。忽略死亡植物材料在早期分解过程中向更顽固物质的转化，以及这种转化的环境控制，可能会高估碳循环模型中早期分解过程中的碳损失。