Litter decomposition: measuring relative contributions of organic matter and nitrogen to forest soils

1980 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 416-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
John D. Aber ◽  
Jerry M. Melillo
Keyword(s):  
Weight Loss ◽  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Litter Decomposition ◽  
Forest Soils ◽  
Soil Horizons ◽  
Litter Bag ◽  
Nitrogen Levels ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Different Types

The relative contribution of different types of litter to the maintenance of soil organic matter and nitrogen levels cannot be determined from standard litter bag disappearance studies. By coupling measurements of weight loss with nitrogen dynamics and presenting results in a new format, estimates of both state of decay and percentage of material eventually transferred to lower soil horizons can be obtained.

Soil texture affects the coupling of litter decomposition and soil organic matter formation

2021 ◽  
pp. 108302
Author(s):  
Gerrit Angst ◽  
Jan Pokorný ◽  
Carsten W. Mueller ◽  
Isabel Prater ◽  
Sebastian Preusser ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Litter Decomposition ◽  
Soil Texture ◽  
Soil Organic Matter Formation

The long-term impact of low-intensity surface fires on litter decomposition and enzyme activities in boreal coniferous forests

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kajar Köster ◽  
Frank Berninger ◽  
Jussi Heinonsalo ◽  
Aki Lindén ◽  
Egle Köster ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Enzymatic Activity ◽  
Litter Decomposition ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Biological Activities ◽  
Coniferous Forest ◽  
Fire Disturbance ◽  
Coniferous Forests ◽  
Long Term Impact

In boreal forest ecosystems fire, fungi and bacteria, and their interactions, have a pronounced effect on soil carbon dynamics. In this study we measured enzymatic activities, litter decomposition rates, carbon stocks and fungal and microbial biomasses in a boreal subarctic coniferous forest on a four age classes of non-stand replacing fire chronosequence (2, 42, 60 and 152 years after the fire). The results show that microbial activity recovered slowly after fire and the decomposition of new litter was affected by the disturbance. The percent mass loss of Scots pine litter increased with time from the last fire. Slow litter decomposition during the first post-fire years accelerates soil organic matter accumulation that is essential for the recovery of soil biological activities. Fire reduced the enzymatic activity across all the enzyme types measured. Carbon-degrading, chitin-degrading and phosphorus-dissolving enzymes showed different responses with the time elapsed since the fire disturbance. Microbial and enzymatic activity took decades before recovering to the levels observed in old forest stands. Our study demonstrates that slower post-fire litter decomposition has a pronounced impact on the recovery of soil organic matter following forest fires in northern boreal coniferous forests.

Soil organic matter is important for acid buffering and reducing aluminum leaching from acidic forest soils

2018 ◽  
Vol 501 ◽  
pp. 86-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Jiang ◽  
Ying-Ping Wang ◽  
Mengxiao Yu ◽  
Nannan Cao ◽  
Junhua Yan
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Forest Soils ◽  
Acid Buffering

Microbial Degradation of Five Substituted Urea Herbicides

Weed Science ◽  
1969 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Don S. Murray ◽  
Walter L. Rieck ◽  
J. Q. Lynd
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Microbial Degradation ◽  
Avena Sativa ◽  
High Nitrogen ◽  
Herbicide Degradation ◽  
Nitrogen Levels ◽  
Degradation Rates ◽  
Residual Herbicide ◽  
Substituted Urea

Phytotoxicity of five substituted urea herbicides 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea (diuron), 3-(p-chlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea (monuron), 3-phenyl-1,1-dimethylurea (fenuron), 3-hexahydro-4,7-methanoindan-5-yl) −1,1-dimethylurea (norea), and 3-(m-trifluoromethylphenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea (fluometuron) at 0, 10, 100, and 1000 ppm were determined in factorial combination at four urea nitrogen levels of 0, 45, 450, and 900 ppm with three Aspergilli: A. niger, A. sydowi, and A. tamarii. Response interactions were apparent, with all three fungi most tolerant for fenuron and least for diuron. Apparent tolerance order of the three intermediates were: A. niger, norea > fluometuron > monuron; A. sydowi, fluometuron > monuron > norea; and A. tamarii, fluometuron > norea > monuron. Oat (Avena sativa L.) bioassay for residual herbicide toxicity indicated significant differences in herbicide degradation rates between these three fungi at 5, 10, and 20 ppm in Eufaula sand. Diuron was more rapidly degraded than monuron at these levels with fluometuron and norea somewhat intermediate. A. niger was most effective in degradation of these herbicides with A. tamarii greater than A. sydowi. High nitrogen levels in soil organic matter amendment generally favored increased rates of urea herbicide degradation.

Soil organic matter dynamics in changing forests: linking ecosystem manipulation experiments with soil inventories across Switzerland

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Hagedorn ◽  
Sia Gosheva ◽  
Stephan Zimmermann ◽  
Konstantin Gavazov
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Forest Soils ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Soil Profiles ◽  
Forest Age ◽  
Forest Expansion ◽  
Soil C ◽  
Ecosystem Manipulation

<p>Forest soils are storing large quantities of carbon, but their quantitative role in sequestering C is less certain. In principal, soils developed over millennia are assumed to be ‘in equilibrium’ with minimal C stock changes. This concept is challenged by forest soil inventories (in Germany and France) indicate a substantial increase in soil C storage. However, soil organic matter (SOM) storage is susceptible to recent changes in forests - climate warming and droughts, increasing forest disturbances, and a more intensive forest management are all potentially increasing SOM turnover which may turn forest soils into C sources. Here, I will critically discuss the role in Swiss forest soils as C sinks by presenting data from 1000 soil profiles across environmental gradients and from flux measurements in large scale ecosystem manipulation experiments.</p><p>Swiss forests soils are among the C-richest soils in Europe storing on average 140 t C/ha. Analysis of 1000 forest soils show that these SOM stocks are caused by their high contents in potential SOM sorbents (pH, Al+Fe-oxides, Ca, clay), but also by the cool temperatures and high amounts of precipitation. Climate manipulation experiments suggest Swiss forest soils are vulnerable to loose C with expected climatic changes. A six year long soil warming experiment at treeline revealed soil C losses, while a 15 year long irrigation experiment in a dry forest induced C gains in the mineral soil, implying that a warmer and more frequent droughts will lead to C losses.</p><p>Switzerland - as other European mountainous areas – is currently experiencing a major change in land-use due to land abandonment, with the forests expanding by 3 to 4% per decade. Forest expansion affects a multitude of factors driving SOM cycling and storage, including the quantity and quality of organic matter inputs above and below the ground, a cooler and drier microclimate, and change in microbial diversity and activity. In contrast to the intuitive assumption that forests expansion leads to C gains in soils, measurements along an afforestation chronosequence of alpine grassland show that forest expansion leads to minimal changes in SOM stocks but a strong change in SOM quality. Soils gains in particulate organic matter with increasing forest age but lose C in mineral-associated organic matter. In support, reconstructing forest cover ages of 850 soil profiles showed that forest age and hence time since conversion into forest (predominantly from grasslands) did not significantly affect total SOM stocks, while other factors, especially physico-chemical soil characteristics and climate were more important. Overall, these results show that the inherently C rich forest soils in Switzerland are unlikely to gain additional C but rather loose it in response to the ongoing changes in climate and land-use. </p>

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