Figures and data
![](https://prod--epp.elifesciences.org/iiif/2/93656%2Fv1%2Fcontent%2F541603v3_fig1.tif/full/max/0/default.jpg)
Hypothetical climate dependence of litter decomposition by microorganisms and mesofauna (dashed orange curve), by macrofauna (dotted gray), and by the whole decomposer community (solid brown).
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(A) Locations and landscapes of the seven experimental sites across a precipitation gradient from 22 to 526 mm yearly precipitation. (B) A block of three litter baskets in the Sayeret Shaked site. Macro-basket in front, meso-basket on the right and micro-basket on the left. Mean annual precipitation (MAP) map courtesy of the Hebrew University GIS center.
![](https://prod--epp.elifesciences.org/iiif/2/93656%2Fv1%2Fcontent%2F541603v3_tbl1.tif/full/max/0/default.jpg)
Properties of the seven experimental sites
![](https://prod--epp.elifesciences.org/iiif/2/93656%2Fv1%2Fcontent%2F541603v3_fig3.tif/full/max/0/default.jpg)
Litter removal rate (mean ± se) from baskets with different mesh sizes across sites and seasons. Asterisks represent significant differences between mesh sizes within site and season: * P-value<0.05, **P-value<0.01, ***P-value<0.001. NS – Nahal Shita; MS – Meishar; AV – Avdat; SS – Sayeret Shaked; HS – Havat Shikmim; BG – Bet Guvrin; RH – Ramat Hanadiv.
![](https://prod--epp.elifesciences.org/iiif/2/93656%2Fv1%2Fcontent%2F541603v3_fig4.tif/full/max/0/default.jpg)
Contribution of different organism size classes to litter removal (mean ± se) across the precipitation gradient during summer, winter and both seasons combined. Macrofaunal contribution was calculated as the within-block difference between macro- and meso-baskets; mesofaunal contribution as the difference between meso- and micro-baskets; microbial and whole community contributions represent litter removal rates in the micro- and macro-baskets, respectively. Curves were fitted to data using local estimation scatterplot smoothing (LOESS).
![](https://prod--epp.elifesciences.org/iiif/2/93656%2Fv1%2Fcontent%2F541603v3_tbl2.tif/full/max/0/default.jpg)
Results of a full-factorial analysis of variance in litter removal rate across mesh sizes, experimental sites and seasons.
![](https://prod--epp.elifesciences.org/iiif/2/93656%2Fv1%2Fcontent%2F541603v3_fig5.tif/full/max/0/default.jpg)
Macro-decomposer abundance, biomass and alpha morphospecies richness across the precipitation gradient in the two experimental seasons (mean ± se). Values are averaged across traps and divided by the number of trapping days.
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(A) and (B) Graphical representation of the first two axes of a principal coordinate analysis on the macro-decomposer assemblage data. Colors represent experimental sites in A and seasons in B. Arrows represent taxonomic group scores fitted onto the PCoA ordination. (C) Distribution of abundance, biomass and morphospecies richness among macro-decomposer taxonomic groups in each site across the aridity gradient. NS – Nahal Shita; MS – Meishar; AV – Avdat; SS – Sayeret Shaked; HS – Havat Shikmim; BG – Bet Guvrin; RH – Ramat Hanadiv. Color codes (left to right in panel C): grey – Zygentoma, burgundy – termites, olive green – woodlice, turquoise – millipedes, pink – snails and slugs, purple – earthworms, dark green – crickets, pale yellow – bristletails, red – beetles, pale blue – ants.