Herbivory effects on leaf litter decomposition vary with specific leaf area in temperate mixed deciduous forest

Abstract Insect herbivory has great impact on biogeochemical cycling in forest ecosystems, but experimental tests on the herbivory‐decomposability relationships at the interspecific level are rare. We conducted a 400‐day field decomposition experiment in a temperate mixed deciduous forest and measured mass remaining rate, decomposition constant, total loss of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) of leaf litter with/without obvious damage by chewing insects for different tree species. We found that herbivory effect on initial litter quality (C:N ratio) varied with species, leading to a substantial decrease for Morus alba (−5.78%) and an enhancement for Quercus acutissima (+5.35%). Herbivory damage increased the decomposition constant for M . alba and Liquidambar formosana with higher specific leaf area (SLA), but decreased it for Diospyros kaki and Q . acutissima with lower SLA. These contrasting effects of insect herbivory on litter decomposition could be attributed to the differential responses of litter initial quality (C:N ratio) of each species to herbivory damage. Herbivory‐induced decline of leaf C:N ratio could increase the decomposition constant of species with higher SLA. Our finding that herbivory damage showed interspecific variability in both litter quality and decomposition rate suggests that insect herbivore‐induced feedbacks to nutrient cycling and ecosystem function should be estimated at the species level in multispecies mixed deciduous forest.