Litter decomposition and organic matter turnover in northern forest soils

2000 ◽  
Vol 133 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 13-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Björn Berg
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Litter Decomposition ◽  
Forest Soils ◽  
Northern Forest ◽  
Organic Matter Turnover

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

scholarly journals Soil fertility relates to fungal‐mediated decomposition and organic matter turnover in a temperate mountain forest

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathias Mayer ◽  
Boris Rewald ◽  
Bradley Matthews ◽  
Hans Sandén ◽  
Christoph Rosinger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Mountain Forest ◽  
Organic Matter Turnover

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.

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