Leaf and twig litter decomposition of main species in different forests along the north slope of Changbai Mountain, northeast China

Abstract

Leaf and twig litter decomposition of main species in different forests along the north slope of Changbai Mountain, northeast China Abstract From 2001 to 2003, the litter decomposition dynamics of dominant tree species were conducted using a litterbag burying method in the broadleaf-Korean pine forest, spruce-fir forest and Ermans birch forest, which represents three altitudinal belts in Changbai Mountain, northeast China. The spatial and temporal dynamics of litter decomposition and the effects of litter properties were examined. Furthermore, the decomposition trend of different species was simulated by the Olson model, and results showed that annual mass loss rates increased over time, but was not significantly correlated. Leaf decomposition rates increased after decomposing for 638 days (1.75 years), and the order of dry weight remaining rates of leaf litter for different species is: Asian white birch (Betula platyphylla) (24.56%)<Amur linden (Tilia amurensis) (24.81%)<Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) (38.48%)<spruce (Picea jezoensis var. microsperma) (41.15%)<Ermans birch (Betula ermanii) (41.53%)<fir (Abies nephrolepis) (42.62%). The dry weight remaining rates of twig litter was smaller than that of leaf litter, and followed the order of Amur linden (44.98%)<fir (64.62%)< Korean pine (72.07%)<spruce (73.51%)<Asian white birch (77.37%)<Ermans birch (80.35%). The simulation results by the Olson model showed that, in leaf, the 95%-decomposition rates ranged from 4.5 to 8.0 years, and annual decomposition rate (k) followed the order of Amur linden (0.686)>Asian white birch (0.624)>Korean pine (0.441)> spruce (0.406)>fir (0.397)>Ermans birch (0.385); in twig, it ranged from 7.8 to 29.3 years, and k follows the order: Amur linden (0.391)>fir (0.204)>Korean pine (0.176)> spruce (0.157)>Asian white birch (0.148)>Ermans birch (0.102). In general, the differences of decomposition rate are evident between leaf and twig litter and among species, and were higher in broad-leaved species compared with coniferous species at the same elevation, and decreased with the ascending of elevation.

Mineralisation, leaching and stabilisation of &lt;sup&gt;13&lt;/sup&gt;C-labelled leaf and twig litter in a beech forest soil

“…Therefore, we assume that similar decay rates for fine-woody and non-woody litter is a specific phenomenon for beech, while in forest ecosystems dominated by other tree species, the decomposition of the two litter types might differ much more. Large differences between the mass losses of leaves and twigs have recently been observed, for instance, for litter from Tilia, Betula, Picea, and Pinus (Guo et al, 2007;Vávřová et al, 2009). …”

“…YASSO), which basically assume that fine woody litter mineralises much more slowly than leaf litter, but that similar proportions of the decomposed litter are transferred into more stable humus pools (Liski et al, 2005; A. Kammer and F. Hagedorn: Decomposition of 13 C-labelled leaf and twig litter Carrasco et al, 2006;Scott et al, 2006). While the first assumption may possibly apply to litter from many tree species other than beech (Guo et al, 2007;Vávřová et al, 2009), the ratio of mineralisation versus faunal export into mineral soil could be distinctly larger for twig than for leaf litter in many forest ecosystems of the temperate zone. More tracer studies, however, are needed to confirm this assumption.…”

“…The values are means ± standard errors. Finland found that leaf and needle litter lost about twice as much C as twig litter (Guo et al, 2007;Vávřová et al, 2009). By contrast, very small differences in C losses from litterbags were observed between beech leaves and spruce branchlets on a Rendzina soil in Switzerland (Hättenschwiler et al, 1999).…”

Teatime on Mount Kilimanjaro: Assessing climate and land‐use effects on litter decomposition and stabilization using the Tea Bag Index

“…There are even fewer studies considering the effects of climatic conditions along tropical elevation gradients on decomposition. Most of these studies either looking at comparably short gradients (Guo et al, ; Illig, Schatz, Scheu, & Maraun, ; Ostertag, Marín‐Spiotta, Silver, & Schulten, ) or excluded certain factors, such as seasonality (Coûteaux, Sarmiento, Bottner, Acevedo, & Thiéry, ). In general, research on C cycling in tropical ecosystems has focused on Southeast Asia and South and Central America (e.g., Powers et al, ).…”

Mineralisation, leaching and stabilisation of &lt;sup&gt;13&lt;/sup&gt;C-labelled leaf and twig litter in a beech forest soil

“…Rendzina 7.5 (0.1) 25 (2) 21 (3) 54 (5) 0.91 (0.03) 3.9 (0.3) 12.0 (0.1) 3.6 (0.2) −27.2 (0.2) Cambisol 5.9 (0.1) 23 (4) 35 (2) 42 (3) 0.94 (0.6) 2.8 (0.5) 11.3 (0.5) 2.6 (0.1) −26.7 (0.2) Finland found that leaf and needle litter lost about twice as much C as twig litter (Guo et al, 2007;Vávřová et al, 2009). By contrast, very small differences in C losses from litterbags were observed between beech leaves and spruce branchlets on a Rendzina soil in Switzerland (Hättenschwiler et al, 1999).…”