High‐quality litter drives a stronger home‐field advantage of leaf decomposition in young plantations

Abstract Home‐field advantage (HFA) describes the tendency of litter to decompose accelerated in its native habitat than in other environments. Although the interactions between soil fauna and microbial communities during litter decomposition are well documented, the specific and combined impacts of these decomposers on HFA and their responses to litter quality remain less explored. In this study, we conducted reciprocal transplant experiments across 11 pure plantations in subtropical China, using two different mesh sizes of litterbags (fine‐ and coarse‐mesh) to regulate the absence or presence of mesofauna. This study aimed to reveal how decomposers (soil fauna and microbes) affect HFA and respond to litter quality. We discovered that nutrient availability and decomposer communities jointly influence HFA, which is more pronounced with high‐quality litter and high‐nutrient soil. Although there were no significant differences in HFA between coarse‐ and fine‐mesh sizes, the exclusion of soil mesofauna notably enhanced the impact of microbes on HFA. This finding suggests a substantial degree of functional redundancy among decomposers (soil mesofauna and microbes) in litter decomposition. Such redundancy implies that ecosystem processes like decomposition can withstand the loss of certain functional groups with minimal impact on ecosystem functions. Litter quality emerged as a critical determinant of HFA, significantly affecting decomposition regardless of the presence of soil mesofauna. High‐quality litter drives a stronger home‐field advantage of leaf decomposition in young plantations, possibly linked to immediate substrate‐induced feedbacks in simplified decomposer communities, although this interpretation remains speculative and requires further testing. Our results highlight the critical interplay between litter quality and decomposer communities in shaping HFA effects, underscoring the necessity of comprehensive research for effective forest ecosystem management and conservation efforts in plantations. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.