Decomposition dynamics of Phragmites australis litter in Lake Burullus, Egypt

Abstract

This study estimated the decomposition rate and nutrient dynamics of Phragmites australis litter in Lake Burullus (Egypt) and investigated the amount of nutrients released back into the water after the decomposition of the dead tissues. Phragmites australis detritus decomposition was studied from April to September 2003 utilizing the leaf, stem, and rhizome litterbags technique with coarse mesh (5 mm) bags on five sampling dates and with nine replicate packs per sample. All samples were dried, weighed and analyzed for N, P, Ca, Mg, Na, and K concentrations. The exponential breakdown rate of leaves (−0.0117/day) was significantly higher than that of rhizomes (−0.0040/day) and stems (−0.0036/day). N, Na and K mineralization were the highest from leaf litter, followed by rhizomes and stems, while P, Ca and Mg mineralization were the highest from rhizomes, followed by leaves and stems. The dead shoot biomass at the end of 2003 amounted to 4550 g DM/m2 which enters the decomposition process. By using the decay rate of 0.0117 and 0.0036/day for the leaves and stems, 3487 g DM/m2 is decomposed in a year, leaving only 1063 g DM/m2 after 1 year. This is mainly equivalent to releasing the following nutrients into surrounding water (in g/m2): 24.4 N, 1.1 P, 15.5 Ca, 3.5 Mg, 11.3 Na and 16.7 K. In conclusion, the present study indicates a significant difference in relation to the type of litter; these breakdown rates were generally greater than most rates reported in previous studies that used the same technique and mesh size.

Decomposition Behavior of Triarrhena lutarioriparia Tissues in Dongting Lake Water: A Laboratory Simulation Study

“…Consistent with previous studies on the decomposition of plant tissues, [15,16,[20][21][22] two main processes of rapid leaching and gradual biodegradation have been observed during the 90-day decomposition of T. lutarioriparia tissues. The dry weight loss of T. lutarioriparia tissues was rapid in the first 10 days, losing 4.67-13.33% of the initial weight.…”

Seasonal and multi-annual patterns ofPhragmites australisdecomposition in a wetland of the Adriatic area (Northeast Italy): a three-years analysis

“…Temperature is one of the main driving factors in P. australis breakdown, positively influencing the decay rate values (Hanson et al, 1984;Webster and Benfield, 1986;Bedford, 2005;Sangiorgio et al, 2008a;Eid et al, 2014): water temperature increases microbial processing during decomposition and leaves served as a major energy source for invertebrates in aquatic ecosystems (Dudgeon, 1982); the role of microfungi and invertebrates in decomposition is well-known (Gessner and Chauvet, 1994;Graça, 2001;Hieber and Gessner, 2002;Menéndez et al, 2003).…”

“…Steud, especially, represent an essentially detritus-based system (Cowie et al, 1992;Komínková et al, 2000), which can be considered one of the most productive (Bedford, 2005). In this contest, litter breakdown appears as a fundamental process in the metabolism of wetlands (Webster et al, 1995;Wallace et al, 1997;Eid et al, 2014).…”

“…These environments are often dominated by macrophytes such as Phragmites, Typha, and Juncus (Kuehn and Suberkropp, 1998) which produce a considerable part of the organic material in these areas, and play an important role in the detritus food chain supplying an important nutrient source (van Dokkum et al, 2002;Eid et al, 2014). Reedbeds of Phragmites australis (Cav) Trin.…”

Distribution of Triarrhena lutarioriparia and its reserve characteristics of nitrogen and phosphorus in Dongting Lake

“…The overall withdrawal of papermaking makes it difficult to develop alternative resource utilization methods for T. lutarioriparia in the lake area within a short time. Therefore, a large amount of T. lutarioriparia will stay uncut in the lake wetland, causing problems in how to manage and protect them from exerting non-negligible impact on the water quality of Doting Lake [11][12][13].…”