Meta-data in this study
A total of 62 articles, encompassing 476 observations across 93 study sites met our criteria (for detailed references see supporting material S1). Eighty-five per cent of case studies used graded mesh sizes to exclude soil invertebrates, with 15% using chemical agents. Observations were distributed across all continents on Earth except Antarctica: Asia (37%), Europe (32%), South America (24%), North America (5%), and Australia and Africa (2% for both) (Fig. 1). For litter traits and environmental variables, 36% of leaf litter traits (C, N, C: N and lignin:N ratios), 50% of soil pH, 90% of mean annual temperature (MAT, °C), and 91% of mean annual precipitation (MAP, mm yr-1) were taken from the original articles.