Decomposition Trends of Five Plant Litter Types in Mitigated and Reference Wetlands in West Virginia, USA

Gingerich, R. Tristan; Anderson, James T.

doi:10.1007/s13157-011-0181-8

Cited by 23 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…We used R 2.10.1 (R Development Core Team 2009) for all analyses. Decomposition rates were similar between mitigation and reference wetlands (Gingerich & Anderson 2011). Student's t-test was used to compare averages of environmental variables in mitigation and reference wetlands.…”

Section: Comparison Of Wetlandsmentioning

confidence: 79%

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Influence of environmental parameters on litter decomposition in wetlands in West Virginia, USA

Gingerich

Merovich

Anderson

2014

Journal of Freshwater Ecology

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Plant litter decomposition varies by species and environmental conditions. To study environmental controls of decomposition, we measured plant litter decomposition rates in six wetlands located in West Virginia, USA. Four common wetland litter species were used: broadleaf cattail (Typha latifolia L.), common rush (Juncus effusus L.), brookside alder (Alnus serrulata (Ait.) Willd.), and reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea L.). A fifth litter type was created from a mix of common rush, brookside alder, and reed canary grass. Litter bags were collected over two years, from December 2007 to December 2009, and environmental variables near litter bags were measured every two weeks. Nine environmental parameters and one study parameter were then used to construct and test the ability of 22 a-priori models to predict the decomposition rate of each litter type. The environmental variables that most influenced and, therefore, best predicted decomposition rate varied among litter types. Brookside alder decomposition rate was best predicted by soil temperature (ST), water pH (WPH), and the number of transitions between flooded and exposed conditions (FET); reed canary grass decomposition rate was best predicted by air temperature (AT), WPH, and ST; common rush decomposition rates were best predicted by AT; broadleaf cattail decomposition rate was best predicted by hydroperiod (HP) and FET; and the mixed litter decomposition rate was best predicted by AT and WPH. Overall, AT, ST, and WPH were directly related to decomposition rate, while HP was inversely related. The FET was directly related to decomposition rates of common rush and broadleaf cattail and inversely related to the decomposition rate of brookside alder. The study of litter decomposition helps reveal the link between environmental conditions and wetland function.

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Section: Comparison Of Wetlandsmentioning

confidence: 79%

“…Decomposition rate constants were similar between mitigation and reference wetlands (Gingerich & Anderson 2011); therefore, wetland type was not included as a model variable. Ten of the models were single variable models (e.g., k D AT).…”

Section: Model Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of environmental parameters on litter decomposition in wetlands in West Virginia, USA

Gingerich

Merovich

Anderson

2014

Journal of Freshwater Ecology

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“…(), for example, Carex lyngbyei . Reed canarygrass has a faster decomposition rate than Typha latifolia (common cattail), Juncus effusus (soft rush), and Alnus rubra (red alder) leaves (Gingerich and Anderson ), which are common elsewhere including other parts of the Columbia River estuary. Additionally, the model only removes POM via physical means (erosion and transport), which are governed by fluid motion, and produces the greatest velocity and potential for erosion in the channels.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…After hydrological connection, the KF site became dominated by reed canarygrass, a species that develops thick, tough mats that may be more recalcitrant to mobilization (Griffiths et al 2012) than those dominating sites studied by Simenstad et al (1990) and Kistritz et al (1983), for example, Carex lyngbyei. Reed canarygrass has a faster decomposition rate than Typha latifolia (common cattail), Juncus effusus (soft rush), and Alnus rubra (red alder) leaves (Gingerich and Anderson 2011), which are common elsewhere including other parts of the Columbia River estuary. Additionally, the model only removes POM via physical means (erosion and transport), which are governed by fluid motion, and produces the greatest velocity and potential for erosion in the channels.…”

Section: Marsh Plant Communitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Storm‐driven particulate organic matter flux connects a tidal tributary floodplain wetland, mainstem river, and estuary

Thom

Breithaupt

Diefenderfer

et al. 2018

Ecological Applications

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The transport of terrestrial plant matter into coastal waters is important to regional and global biogeochemical cycles, and methods for assessing and predicting fluxes in such dynamic environments are needed. We investigated the hypothesis that upon reconnection of a floodplain wetland to its mainstem river, organic matter produced in the wetland would reach other parts of the ecosystem. If so, we can infer that the organic matter would ultimately become a source for the food web in the mainstem river and estuary. To accomplish this, we adapted numerical hydrodynamic and transport modeling methods to estimate the mass of particulate organic matter (POM) derived from the annually senescent aboveground parts of herbaceous marsh plants (H-POM). The Finite-Volume Community Ocean Model (FVCOM), parameterized with flow, tide, and aboveground biomass data, simulated H-POM mobilization from fluid shear stress during tidal exchange, flooding, and variable river flow; entrainment into the water column; transport via channel and overland flow; and entrapment when wetted surfaces dry. We examined export from a recently reconnected, restoring tidal emergent marsh on the Grays River, a tributary to the Columbia River estuary. Modeling indicated that hydrologically reconnecting 65 ha at the site resulted in export of about 96 × 10 kg of H-POM, primarily during pulsed storm flooding events in autumn and early winter. This exported mass amounted to about 19% of the summer peak aboveground biomass measured at the site. Of that 19%, about 48% (47 × 10 kg) was deposited downstream in the Grays River and floodplain wetlands, and the remaining 52% (50 × 10 kg) passed the confluence of the Grays River and the mainstem estuary located about 7 km from the study site. The colonization of the restoring study site largely by nonnative Phalaris arundinacea (reed canarygrass) may have resulted in 18-28% lower H-POM mobilization than typical marsh plant communities on this floodplain, based on estimates from regional studies of marshes dominated by less recalcitrant species. We concluded that restored floodplain wetlands can contribute significant amounts of organic matter to the estuarine ecosystem and thereby contribute to the restoration of historical trophic structure.

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“…Among the few lentic studies to address this question, results have demonstrated additive, synergistic, and antagonistic outcomes (Schädler et al. , Gingerich and Anderson , b, Stoler and Relyea , Liu et al. , Zhang et al.…”

Section: Theme 3: Effects Of Leaf Litter Mixingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reviewing the role of plant litter inputs to forested wetland ecosystems: leafing through the literature

Stoler

Relyea

2020

Ecological Monographs

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The input of senescent terrestrial leaf litter into soil and aquatic ecosystems is one of the most massive cyclic subsidies on Earth, particularly within forested ecosystems. For freshwater systems embedded within forests, litter inputs provide a vital source of energy and nutrients that allows greater production than in situ resources can provide. In return, freshwater food webs can provide an enormous amount of material to the terrestrial landscape through biotic respiration, photosynthesis, and organism emergence. Most research concerning this important aquatic-terrestrial link has focused on lotic ecosystems (i.e., streams and rivers); far less attention has been given to its role in lentic systems (i.e., wetlands and lakes). A focus on small forested wetlands is particularly important, as these systems account for a disproportionate amount of global carbon flux relative to their spatial coverage, and the decomposition of leaf litter is a major contributor. Here, we review six themes: (1) the evidence for the role of leaf litter inputs as an ecologically important subsidy in forested wetlands; (2) the bottom-up effects of quantitative and qualitative variation in litter inputs; (3) how diversity in litter mixtures can alter ecological functioning; (4) evidence for top-down consequences of litter inputs through toxic effects on predators and parasites, and the alteration of predator-prey interactions; (5) the relevance of our review to other research fields by considering the role of litter inputs relative to other types of subsidies and environmental gradients (e.g., temperature, canopy cover, and hydrology); and (6) the interaction of litter subsidies with anthropogenic disturbances. We conclude by highlighting several high-priority research questions and providing suggestions for future research on the role of litter subsidies in freshwater ecosystems. 3: Effects of leaf litter mixingInsufficient evidence exists to determine the effects of mixing litter species on total litter decay rates.Higher trophic levels exhibit weak responses to increased litter diversity.Forested wetland food webs exhibit a stronger response to changes in average primary and secondary chemical attributes of litter mixtures relative to changes in litter species or chemical diversity.Sterner and Schulz (1998), Cohen et al. (2014), Stoler et al. (2016b) Consumers exhibit nonlinear responses to changes in litter species evenness.

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Decomposition Trends of Five Plant Litter Types in Mitigated and Reference Wetlands in West Virginia, USA

Cited by 23 publications

References 72 publications

Influence of environmental parameters on litter decomposition in wetlands in West Virginia, USA

Influence of environmental parameters on litter decomposition in wetlands in West Virginia, USA

Storm‐driven particulate organic matter flux connects a tidal tributary floodplain wetland, mainstem river, and estuary

Reviewing the role of plant litter inputs to forested wetland ecosystems: leafing through the literature

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