The response of decomposition of litter for the dominant tree species in disturbed (pine), rehabilitated (pine and broadleaf mixed) and mature (monsoon evergreen broadleaf) forests in subtropical China to simulated N deposition was studied to address the following hypothesis: (1) litter decomposition is faster in mature forest (high soil N availability) than in rehabilitated/disturbed forests (low soil N availability); (2) litter decomposition is stimulated by N addition in rehabilitated and disturbed forests due to their low soil N availability; (3) N addition has little effect on litter decomposition in mature forest due to its high soil N availability. The litterbag method (a total of 2880 litterbags) and N treatments: Control-no N addition, Low-N: −5 g N m−2 y−1, Medium-N: −10 g N m−2 y−1, and High-N: −15 g N m−2 y−1, were employed to evaluate decomposition. Results indicated that mature forest, which has likely been N saturated due to both long-term high N deposition in the region and the age of the ecosystem, had the highest litter decomposition rate, and exhibited no significant positive and even some negative response to nitrogen additions. However, both disturbed and rehabilitated forests, which are still N limited due to previous land use history, exhibited slower litter decomposition rates with significant positive effects from nitrogen additions. These results suggest that litter decomposition and its responses to N addition in subtropical forests of China vary depending on the nitrogen status of the ecosystem.

Response of litter decomposition to simulated N deposition in disturbed, rehabilitated and mature forests in subtropical China

Litter decomposition represents one of the largest annual fluxes of carbon (C) from terrestrial ecosystems, particularly for tropical forests, which are generally characterized by high net primary productivity and litter turnover. We used data from the Long-Term Intersite Decomposition Experiment (LIDET) to (1) determine the relative importance of climate and litter quality as predictors of decomposition rates, (2) compare patterns in root and leaf litter decomposition, (3) identify controls on net nitrogen (N) release during decay, and (4) compare LIDETrates with native species studies across five bioclimatically diverse neotropical forests. Leaf and root litter decomposed fastest in the lower montane rain and moist forests and slowest in the seasonally dry forest. The single best predictor of leaf litter decomposition was the climate decomposition index (CDI), explaining 51% of the variability across all sites. The strongest models for predicting leaf decomposition combined climate and litter chemistry, and included CDI and lignin (R 2 50.69), or CDI, N and nonpolar extractives (R 2 50.69). While we found no significant differences in decomposition rates between leaf and root litter, drivers of decomposition differed for the two tissue types. Initial stages of decomposition, determined as the time to 50% mass remaining, were driven primarily by precipitation for leaf litter (R 2 50.93) and by temperature for root litter (R 2 50.86). The rate of N release from leaf litter was positively correlated with initial N concentrations; net N immobilization increased with decreasing initial N concentrations. This study demonstrates that decomposition is sensitive to climate within and across tropical forests. Our results suggest that climate change and increasing N deposition in tropical forests are likely to result in significant changes to decomposition rates in this biome.

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Controls on long-term root and leaf litter decomposition in neotropical forests

The impact of tree species on soil carbon stocks and acidity in southern Sweden was studied in a non-replicated plantation with monocultures of 67-year-old ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.), beech (Fagus silvatica L.), elm (Ulmus glabra Huds.), hornbeam (Carpinus betulus L.), Norway spruce (Picea abies L.) and oak (Quercus robur L.). The site was characterized by a cambisol on glacial till. Volume-determined soil samples were taken from the O-horizon and mineral soil layers to 20 cm. Soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), pH (H2O), cation-exchange capacity and base saturation at pH 7 and exchangeable calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium ions were analysed in the soil fraction < 2 mm. Root biomass (<5 mm in diameter) and its proportion in the forest floor and mineral soil varied between tree species. There was a vertical gradient under all species, with the highest concentrations of SOC, TN and base cations in the O-horizon and the lowest in the 10–20 cm layer. The tree species differed wit...

Impact of tree species on soil carbon stocks and soil acidity in southern Sweden

Litter plays a vital role in the nutrient cycling of plantations and agroforests. Silvicultural interventions can alter litter production and decay rates, thereby varying nutrient fluxes. We evalua...

Does thinning affect litterfall, litter decomposition, and associated nutrient release in Acacia mangium stands of Kerala in peninsular India?

[1] This study analyzed how seasonal and interannual variations in climate alter litter dynamics, including production, decomposition, and accumulation. Monthly measurements of leaf, stem, and reproductive (flower plus fruit) litter and the forest floor litter mass were combined with a mass balance model to determine rates of litter decomposition for a semideciduous tropical forest located in the rain forest-savanna ecotone of the southern Amazon Basin for 2001–2007. Annual rates of litter production varied between 8 and 10.5 Mg ha−1 a−1, and leaf litter production accounted for the majority (∼70%) of the total litter production. Leaf litter production peaked at the end of the May–August dry season while stem litter production peaked during the wet season and reproductive litter production peaked during the dry-wet season transition. Forest floor litter mass ranged between 5 and 8 Mg ha−1 over the study period and generally declined as litter inputs declined. Litter decomposition rates were remarkably stable from year-to-year and varied between 10.8 and 12.4 Mg ha−1 a−1. On average, rates of litter decomposition were highest during the dry-wet season transition. Overall, our results suggest that rainfall variability directly altered litter production dynamics and indirectly altered forest floor litter mass and decomposition kinetics through its effect on litter production. Future changes in seasonal and/or interannual rainfall patterns, whether in response to El Nino or to anthropogenic climate change, will likely have important consequences for the litter dynamics of Amazonian semideciduous forest.

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/2007JG000593

Syoko Arakaki

Papers

Decomposition of leaf litter of four tree species in a subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest, Okinawa Island, Japan