Small spaces have large impacts: Microsites determine plant litter decomposition rates in drylands

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 122, Issue 47, November 2025. SignificancePredicting rates by which dead plant material breaks down is essential for global carbon models. Dryland ecosystems are critical to the global carbon cycle, as they cover >40% of the terrestrial area, but modeled predictions of dryland litter …