Leaf litter decomposition in remote oceanic islands: The role of macroinvertebrates vs. microbial decomposition of native vs. exotic plant species

Freshwater communities on remote oceanic islands can be depauperate due to the influence of biogeographic processes that operate over a range of spatial scales, influencing the colonization of organisms, and events that shape local freshwater assemblages. The consequences of this paucity in organism diversity for the functioning of these ecosystems are, however, not well understood.Here, we examine the relative decomposition rate of leaf litter of native vs. exotic origin by aquatic macroinvertebrates and microbial communities in an isolated and depauperate oceanic environment.Bags containing a standard amount of leaf litter of each of 10 tree species (5 native and 5 non-native species) were deployed on two streams. Two types of bags differing in mesh size were used to allow or prevent the access of leaf litter to macroinvertebrates, respectively. Over a period of 28 days, mass loss of leaf litter was similar in the two bag types suggesting that macroinvertebrates had little influence on the break down of leaf litter in this system. In addition, there was no difference in mass loss of leaf litter of native and exotic origin. Decomposition rates were highly species-specific suggesting that decomposition rates were related to inhibitory substance specific of each leaf species. Our results add to the wider literature by showing that in depauperate and isolated ecosystems, and in contrast to temperate continental ecosystems, decomposition of plant litter by aquatic macroinvertebrates is negligible.