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Abstract:
Climate and litter quality have been identified as major drivers of litter decomposition at large spatial scales.
However, the role played by soil fauna remains largely unknown, despite its importance for litter fragmentation
and microbial activity. We synthesised litterbag studies to quantify the effect sizes of soil fauna on
litter decomposition rates at the global and biome scales, and to assess how climate, litter quality and soil
fauna interact to determine such rates. Soil fauna consistently enhanced litter decomposition at both global
and biome scales (average increment ~ 27%). However, climate and litter quality differently modulated the
effects of soil fauna on decomposition rates between biomes, from climate-driven biomes to those where
climate effects were mediated by changes in litter quality. Our results advocate for the inclusion of biomespecific
soil fauna effects on litter decomposition as a mean to reduce the unexplained variation in largescale decomposition models.
