Wardle et al. (2002): Linkages between plant litter decomposition, litter quality, and vegetation responses to herbivores.

Wardle, D. A.; Bonner, K. I.; Barker, G. M. 2002. Linkages between plant litter decomposition, litter quality, and vegetation responses to herbivores. Functional Ecology 16: 585–595.

To predict possible effects of deer and goats on the decomposer subsystem, litter from several understorey plant species were collected from 28 forested locations throughout New Zealand. At each location exclosure plots were used to determine effects of browsing mammals on each plant species. Litters from those species which were reduced by browsers decomposed more rapidly, and had lower concentrations of phenolics, tannins, lignin and fibre than those promoted by browsers; litter N and P concentrations did not differ between these two types of plants. This suggests that browsing results in understorey domination by plant species that impair decomposer processes.