The Assumptions of the Tea Bag Index and Their Implications: A Reply to Mori 2025

Judith M. Sarneel; Jeff W. Atkins; Laurent Augusto; Janna M. Barel; Sarah Duddigan; Nicolas Fanin; Mariet M. Hefting; Jonas J. Lembrechts; César Marín; Marshall D. McDaniel; Leonardo Montagnani; Tina Parkhurst; Matteo Petit Bon; Adriano Sofo; Joost A. Keuskamp

doi:10.1111/ele.70117

The Assumptions of the Tea Bag Index and Their Implications: A Reply to Mori 2025

Judith M. Sarneel^*
, Jeff W. Atkins
, Laurent Augusto
, Janna M. Barel
, Sarah Duddigan
, Nicolas Fanin
, Mariet M. Hefting
, Jonas J. Lembrechts
, César Marín
, Marshall D. McDaniel
, Leonardo Montagnani
, Tina Parkhurst
, Matteo Petit Bon
, Adriano Sofo
, Joost A. Keuskamp

^*Corresponding author for this work

Systems Ecology

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Comment / Letter to the editor › Academic

Abstract

Responding to Mori (2025), we discuss that the simplifications and implications of the Tea Bag Index are essential to its ease of use. However, they necessitate careful attention, especially regarding the appropriate incubation time. Aligning with Mori (2025), we call for a deeper understanding of the interpretation of k_TBI.

Original language	English
Article number	e70117
Pages (from-to)	3-4
Number of pages	2
Journal	Ecology Letters
Volume	28
Issue number	4
Early online date	18 Apr 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.70117
Publication status	Published - Apr 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 The Author(s). Ecology Letters published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Funding

Funding: This work was supported by Svenska Forskningsr\u00E5det Formas (2021-02449). We acknowledge the students of the terrestrial biogeochemistry course in 2019 for contributing incubation timeseries data of tea, T. Mori for providing data and the research Council Formas (2021-02449) for funding. This work was supported by Svenska Forskningsr\u00E5det Formas (2021\u201002449). Funding: We acknowledge the students of the terrestrial biogeochemistry course in 2019 for contributing incubation timeseries data of tea, T. Mori for providing data and the research Council Formas (2021\u201002449) for funding.

Funders	Funder number
Council Formas
Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas	2021‐02449

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10.1111/ele.70117Licence: CC BY

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Sarneel, J. M., Atkins, J. W., Augusto, L., Barel, J. M., Duddigan, S., Fanin, N., Hefting, M. M., Lembrechts, J. J., Marín, C., McDaniel, M. D., Montagnani, L., Parkhurst, T., Petit Bon, M., Sofo, A., & Keuskamp, J. A. (2025). The Assumptions of the Tea Bag Index and Their Implications: A Reply to Mori 2025. Ecology Letters, 28(4), 3-4. Article e70117. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.70117

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author = "Sarneel, \{Judith M.\} and Atkins, \{Jeff W.\} and Laurent Augusto and Barel, \{Janna M.\} and Sarah Duddigan and Nicolas Fanin and Hefting, \{Mariet M.\} and Lembrechts, \{Jonas J.\} and C{\'e}sar Mar{\'i}n and McDaniel, \{Marshall D.\} and Leonardo Montagnani and Tina Parkhurst and \{Petit Bon\}, Matteo and Adriano Sofo and Keuskamp, \{Joost A.\}",

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AU - Fanin, Nicolas

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AB - Responding to Mori (2025), we discuss that the simplifications and implications of the Tea Bag Index are essential to its ease of use. However, they necessitate careful attention, especially regarding the appropriate incubation time. Aligning with Mori (2025), we call for a deeper understanding of the interpretation of k_TBI.

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ER -

The Assumptions of the Tea Bag Index and Their Implications: A Reply to Mori 2025

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

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Persistent URL (handle)

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Cite this