Figure 1. Schematic representation of the structural hypotheses tested in this study.

Green arrows depict expected positive effects, red arrows represent negative effects. Stressors and nutrients are hypothesized to decrease decomposer diversity. The response of decomposers diversity to environmental change drivers determines the response of decomposition (Srivastava et al., 2009). Nutrients are hypothesized to increase decomposer abundance. Stressors and nutrients can affect litter decomposition independent of changes in decomposer diversity and abundance, especially through changes in physiological activity (De Laender et al., 2016; Giling et al., 2019).