Nutrient cycling in a Pinus patula plantation in the Mpumalanga Province, South Africa

The accumulation of litter on the forest floor was identified as a potential problem in managed plantations of Pinus patula (Schlechtd. et Cham.) in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa in the late 1980s. Litter accumulation in pine plantations is regarded as a threat to site productivity as organic acids are released, moisture penetration is altered and nutrients are immobilised within the litter. This study examines the cycling of nutrients in a 42-year-old P. patula stand in which litter has accumulated. Samples of the vegetation, litter and soil components were collected and chemically analysed for total nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and the major cations potassium (K⁺), calcium (Ca²⁺) and magnesium (Mg²⁺). Complete nutrient budgets for N and P, and the cation pool sizes were determined. It was evident from these studies that large reserves of N (1442 kg ha⁻¹) and P (103 kg ha⁻¹) are stored in the litter layers, with levels of cations being low. The presence of large nutrient reserves within the litter and the predominance of fine feeder roots distributed within this layer indicated that a tightly closed plant–litter–plant nutrient cycle was in operation for the cycling of N and P. This may not be true for the major cations. Management of the litter should ensure retention of as many nutrients as possible in the system. This could be achieved through controlled burning to reduce nutrient loss through volatilisation; increasing forest floor temperatures by altering the planting density and application of dolomitic lime to replace cations and to alleviate the acidic conditions making the litter more favourable for decomposing organisms.     

Plant litter quality influences the contribution of soil fauna to litter decomposition in humid tropical forests, southwestern China

The aim of this field experiment was to quantify the contribution of soil fauna to plant litter decomposition in three forest sites differing in C/N ratio under natural conditions in Xishuangbanna, southwestern China. We conducted a survey of soil fauna communities, the forest floor litter and investigated mass loss of mixed tree species leaf litter for two years in a tropical secondary forest, an evergreen broad-leaf forest and a tropical rain forest. Exclusion treatments of different sized soil fauna from the leaf litter by using varying mesh size litter bags (2 mm and 0.15 mm) were also performed. Mass loss and C and N concentrations in litter bag leaf materials were determined at monthly intervals. We found that: (1) the three forests differed in floor litter biomass and nutrient contents but not in soil fauna richness and abundance; (2) litter mass loss and decomposition rate were slower when soil macrofauna and most of mesofauna were excluded; and (3) greatest soil fauna contribution to plant litter decomposition occurred in the rain forest, where leaf litter C/N ratio was also highest (41.5% contribution: 54.8 C/N ratio), in comparison to 8.69% in the broad-leaf forest and 19.52% in the secondary forest, both with low leaf litter C/N ratios (<32). Our results suggested that, soil fauna played a more pronounced role in the decomposition of mixed leaf litter in tropical rain forest, and significantly bigger effects from fauna were ascribed to the enhancement of N concentration and decrease of C concentration of the initially high C/N ratio litter in this forest site.     

Carbon mineralization is promoted by phosphorus and reduced by nitrogen addition in the organic horizon of northern hardwood forests

Limitations to the respiratory activity of heterotrophic soil microorganisms exert important controls of CO₂ efflux from soils. In the northeastern US, ecosystem nutrient status varies across the landscape and changes with forest succession following disturbance, likely impacting soil microbial processes regulating the transformation and emission of carbon (C). We tested whether nitrogen (N) or phosphorus (P) limit the mineralization of soil organic C (SOC) or that of added C sources in the Oe horizon of successional and mature northern hardwood forests in three locations in central New Hampshire, USA. Added N reduced mineralization of C from SOC and from added leaf litter and cellulose. Added P did not affect mineralization from SOC; however, it did enhance mineralization of litter- and cellulose- C in organic horizons from all forest locations. Added N increased microbial biomass N and K₂SO₄-extractable DON pools, but added P had no effect. Microbial biomass C increased with litter addition but did not respond to either nutrient. The direction of responses to added nutrients was consistent among sites and between forest ages. We conclude that in these organic horizons limitation by N promotes mineralization of C from SOC, whereas limitation by P constrains mineralization of C from new organic inputs. We also suggest that N suppresses respiration in these organic horizons either by relieving the N limitation of microbial biomass synthesis, or by slowing turnover of C through the microbial pool; concurrent measures of microbial growth and turnover are needed to resolve this question.     

Changes in enzyme activities of spruce (Picea balfouriana) forest soil as related to burning in the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

The effect of forest fire on soil enzyme activity of spruce (Picea balfouriana) forest in the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau was assessed. Six specific enzymes were chosen for investigation: invertase, acid phosphatase, proteinase, catalase, peroxidase and polyphenoloxidase. It was found that the activities of invertase and proteinase were reduced by burning, but the activities of acid phosphatase, polyphenoloxidase and peroxidase increased. Meanwhile, burning significantly (P < 0.05) resulted in the decrease of concentrations of available N and K of 0–20 cm depth layer soil, and significantly (P < 0.05) decreased concentrations of organic matter content, total N and P, as well as available N, P and K in soil at both 20–40 and 40–60 cm depths except for available P at 20–40 cm soil depth. These results illustrated that burning could influence the enzyme activities and chemical properties of soil not only of upper but also lower soil layers. Correlation analysis indicated that invertase activities in 0–20 cm depth layer soil were significantly positively correlated with organic matter, total N and P, as well as available N and P. Furthermore, all six enzymes studied were sensitive to fire disturbance, and thus could be used as indicators of soil quality. Our study also showed that soil enzyme activities were associated with soil depth, decreasing from top to bottom in both burned and unburned spruce forests. The distribution pattern of soil enzyme activities suggested that the rate of organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling depended on soil depth, which had important structural and functional characteristics in nutrient cycling dynamics and implications in plantation nutrient management. The finding that burning effects on enzyme activities and soil properties between different soil layers were homogenized was attributed to the 8-years’ regeneration of forest after burning.     

不同林龄樟子松人工林针叶-凋落叶-土壤生态化学计量特征

为明确科尔沁沙地引种樟子松人工林生态系统的C、N、P含量及化学计量特征,采用时空互代的方法,在章古台地区选取4种不同林龄(15,25,35,45年)、立地条件基本一致的樟子松人工林作为研究对象,比较针叶-凋落叶-土壤的C、N、P含量及化学计量比的差异,探讨它们随林龄的变化及其相互间的关系。结果表明:(1)C、N、P含量表现为针叶凋落叶土壤,C/N、C/P、N/P表现为凋落叶针叶土壤,且在3个库之间都有显著差异;(2)林龄对针叶-凋落叶-土壤的C、N、P及C/N、C/P有显著影响,均在35年生樟子松林中针叶-凋落叶-土壤的C、N、P含量最高;(3)相较于其他地区,针叶和凋落叶均表现出高C、P和低N的特征,具有较高的C/N、C/P和较低的N/P;(4)各林龄针叶N/P均小于14,表明该地区樟子松林整个生长过程始终受N的限制,但不同林龄间差异不显著;(5)针叶-凋落叶-土壤的C、N、P含量及其C/N、N/P之间存在显著的相关性,说明该樟子松林生态系统的C、N、P元素在针叶、凋落叶和土壤3个库之间存在运输转换,但其内在维持机制需要进一步深入研究。     

Juniperus virginiana encroachment into upland oak forests alters arbuscular mycorrhizal abundance and litter chemistry

Upland oak forests in the ecotone between the eastern deciduous forest and the southern Great Plains are threatened by encroachment of eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) due to fire suppression. The rapid rate of encroachment caused concern about concomitant alterations of site characteristics including nutrient cycling and the soil microbial communities (SMC) that could lead to positive feedbacks reinforcing eastern redcedar encroachment. We studied eight upland oak forests across central and western Oklahoma with stands representing three levels of encroachment: oak-dominated, eastern redcedar-dominated, and an intermediate mixture of both species. We analyzed litter chemistry (carbon, lignin, and nitrogen), soil chemistry (soil organic matter, NH₄N, NO₃-N, PO₄, K, and pH), and profiled soil microbial communities using phospholipid fatty acid analysis (PLFA). Eastern redcedar encroachment was accompanied by reduced litter carbon along with higher levels of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi while litter N was lower in mixed stands. However, we detected no change in soil chemistry. Our results indicate eastern redcedar encroachment in these upland oak forests reduced litter quality and altered the SMC through increases in AM fungi, a symbiont associated with eastern redcedar. These alterations may create positive soil–microbial feedbacks by reducing the fitness of the dominant oak species and facilitating rapid increase in eastern redcedar in this threatened, oak-dominated ecosystem.     

Changes in Carbon following Forest Soil Transplants along an Altitudinal Gradient

Using a simple case study approach, this research tested the hypothesis that soil organic carbon (C) concentrations would decline when mineral soils from cool, nitrogen (N)–rich, high‐elevation (>1400 m) forests were transplanted to warmer, N‐poor, low‐elevation (～545 m) forests. Two short‐term (<5 year) experiments were performed in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Tenn./N.C.) in the southern Appalachian Mountains. In the first experiment, C concentrations in whole soils, particulate organic matter (POM), and mineral‐associated organic matter (MOM) declined significantly (P 0.001) when soils from a high elevation site (1H) were transplanted to a low‐elevation site (1L). In the second experiment, there was a significant (P  0.05) decline in POM C concentrations when high elevation soils (2H) were moved to a lower elevation (2L) as well as declines in whole soil C concentrations that were significant at P  0.10. In both cases, reciprocal transplants of low elevation soils to high elevations resulted in no detectable change in soil C concentrations. Warming of higher quality soil organic matter (whole soil C‐to‐N ratio <20) resulted in greater soil C loss. Consistent with prior predictions, the results suggest that a future warmer and drier climate may cause losses of forest soil C at high elevations in the southern Appalachian Mountains.     

Effects of liming on survival and reproduction of two potentially invasive earthworm species in a northern forest Podzol

During the last several decades, colonization of soil by exotic earthworms and their effects on soil properties and biodiversity have been reported in forests of North America. In some northern hardwood stands, acid soils or harsh climate may have prevented earthworm colonization. However, climatic change and the increasing use of liming to restore the vigor of declining sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) stands, situated on base-poor soils in USA and Canada, could make many of these sites more suitable for earthworm colonization. We tested survival and reproduction of two exotic earthworm species (Lumbricus terrestris and Amynthas hawayanus) in unlimed and limed soils at the northern limit of the northern hardwood forest distribution in Canada. Improving soil parameters of base-poor, acidic soils by liming positively influenced activity, survivability and reproductive output of L. terrestris in this northern hardwood forest. In contrast, the high mortality and low vigor of L. terrestris observed in the unlimed plots show that soils in this area with a pH of 4.3 are not favorable to this species. Our results suggest that A. hawayanus was very active prior to winter at both soil pHs, but was not able to complete its life cycle during one year at this latitude. Both earthworm species significantly reduced organic C and total N, and increased the C/N ratio of the forest floor. Given that forest liming activities are increasing in proximity to human activities, there is high probability that some earthworm species, such as L. terrestris, will invade limed northern hardwood forests in the next decades, with possible consequences for soil organic matter turnover, nutrient cycling and forest biodiversity and dynamics.     

小兴安岭两种林型的土壤有机碳研究

为阐明小兴安岭两种原始红松林土壤有机碳变化特征及其影响机制,采样分析了云冷杉红松林与椴树红松林土壤总有机碳、易氧化碳、微生物生物量碳及土壤理化性质。结果表明:两种林型土壤总有机碳、易氧化碳、微生物生物量碳含量垂直分布特征一致,均自上向下逐渐减少;土壤总有机碳与易氧化碳含量表现为:云冷杉红松林 < 椴树红松林,同海拔高度变化（云冷杉红松林 < 椴树红松林）一致（仅10—20 cm土层,云冷杉红松林的两个因子高于椴树红松林,但差异不显著）,两种林型土壤微生物量碳含量的差异在不同土壤层次有所不同,但差异均不显著;两种林型间土壤活性碳占总有机碳比率的差异在不同土层无一致的规律性;两种活性碳、总有机碳与土壤全氮、C/N之间为显著（p < 0.05）或极显著（p < 0.01）正相关,与土壤容重呈极显著负相关（p < 0.01）。     

川西3种亚高山针叶林的养分和凋落物格局分析

Investigations were conducted to quantify litterfall, and litter and nutrient accumulation in forest floor, and to acquire information on litter decomposition and nitrogen and phosphorus release patterns in three different subalpine coniferous forests, a plantation （P1）, a secondary forest （SF）, and a primitive forest （PF）, in western Sichuan, China. The litter trap method was used to evaluate litterfall with the litterbag method being utilized for litter decomposition. Seasonal patterns of litterfall were similar in the three forests, with two peaks occurring in September-November and March-May. The plantation revealed an annual litterfall of 4.38 x 103 kg ha-1, which was similar to those of SF and PF, but P1 had a lower mass loss rate and a higher C/N ratio. The C/N ratio may be a sound predictor for the decomposition differences. N concentrations of leaf litter in both the secondary forest and primitive forest increased first and then decreased, and the percentages of their final/initial values were 108.9% and 99.9%, respectively. P concentration in the three forests increased by the end of the study. The results of litterfall and decomposition indicated that in the plantation the potential to provide nutrients for soil organic matter was similar to those of SF and PF; however, its slower decomposition rate could result in a somewhat transient accumulation of litter in the forest floor.     

川西亚高山森林凋落物中大量养分元素的年和月动态

Macronutrients （N, P, K, Ca, Mg, and S） in litter of three primarily spruce （Picea purpurea Masters） （SF）, fir （Abies faxoniana Rehder ＆ E. H. Wilson） （FF）, and birch （Betula platyphylla Sukaczev） （BF） subalpine forests in western China were measured to understand the monthly variations in litter nutrient concentrations and annual and monthly nutrient returns via litteffall. Nutrient concentration in litter showed the rank order of Ca 〉 N 〉 Mg 〉 K 〉 S 〉 P. Monthly variations in nutrient concentrations were greater in leaf litter （LL） than other litter components. The highest and lowest concentrations of N, P, K, and S in LL were found in the growing season and the nongrowing season, respectively, but Ca and Mg were the opposite. Nutrient returns via litterfall showed a marked monthly pattern with a major peak in October and one or two small peaks in February and/or May, varying with the element and stand type, but no marked monthly variations in nutrient returns via woody litter, reproductive litter, except in May for the BF, and moss litter. Not only litter production but also nutrient concentration controlled the annual nutrient return and the monthly nutrient return pattern. The monthly patterns of the nutrient concentration and return were of ecological importance for nutrient cycling and plant growth in the subalpine forest ecosystems.     

Interactions of an introduced shrub and introduced earthworms in an Illinois urban woodland: Impact on leaf litter decomposition

This study examined an ‘invasional meltdown’, where the invasion of a Midwestern woodland by an exotic shrub (Rhamnus cathartica L.P. Mill) and the invasion by Eurasian earthworms facilitated one another. Using a litterbag approach, we examined mass loss of four substrates (R. cathartica, Acer saccharum, Quercus rubra, and Quercus alba) along a gradient of Eurasian earthworm density and biomass throughout a 40.5 ha oak woodland in Glencoe, Illinois. Earthworm densities and biomass were greatest in patches where R. cathartica prevailed, and populations were lowest in an upland forest subcommunity within the woodland. At each of three points along this earthworm gradient, we placed replicated litterbags constructed either to permit or to deny access to the litter by earthworms. The treatments were, therefore, plot treatments (low, medium and high earthworm density and biomass) and litterbag treatments (earthworm access and earthworm excluded). We found that earthworms promoted a very rapid loss of litter from R. cathartica bags. Within 3 months greater than 90% of this litter was lost from the litterbags. Earthworm impacts on other substrates followed the sequence A. saccharum>Q. alba=Q. rubra. Effects of both litterbag and plot treatments were found within 3 months for A. saccharum but Quercus species were affected only after a year. We propose that the impact of earthworms on litter breakdown creates conditions that promote and sustain invasion by R. cathartica. Previous work has demonstrated that R. cathartica may alter soil properties in a way that promotes and sustains invasion by earthworms. These findings have implications for the restoration management of these systems, since the legacy of R. cathartica on soil properties and earthworm populations may persist even after the plant has been physically removed.     

我国南亚热带几种人工林的生物物质循环特点及其对土壤的影响

通过对杉木、马尾松、红荷木、格木四种人工林的三年定位研究,初步获得了四种林木对主要营养元素的生物吸收和归还特点、对土壤养分状况、水分状况、微生物状况和土壤酶活性的影响等一系列资料。初步阐明了四种林木凋落物的数量及主要营养元素含量,研究了四种林木凋落物的分解特点。从而为进一步研究林木混交提供了科学依据。研究表明,阔叶树种与针叶树种相比,在改善土壤理化性状、提高土壤生产力等方面都表现出明显的优点。     

黄土残塬沟壑区阔叶树种枯落叶对针叶林地土壤化学性质的改善效应

为改善人工针叶林地的土壤化学性质退化的问题,通过土壤与枯落叶混合后进行室内培养的方法,研究了黄土残塬沟壑区阔叶树种枯落叶对针叶林地土壤化学性质的改善效应。结果表明:(1)小叶杨枯落叶对侧柏林地土壤碱解氮、有机C和胡敏素的改善效果显著;沙棘枯落叶对油松林地土壤速效磷和侧柏林地土壤pH值、速效磷、速效钾、富啡酸的改善效果显著;柠条枯落叶对油松林地土壤速效钾、有机C、胡敏酸和胡敏素的改善效果显著。(2)对油松林地来说,枯落叶的综合改善效应为:沙棘>柠条>辽东栎>小叶杨>刺槐枯落叶;对侧柏林地来说,枯落叶的综合改善效应为:小叶杨>沙棘>辽东栎>柠条>刺槐枯落叶。     

Relationship between soil enzyme activities, nutrient cycling and soil fungal communities in a northern hardwood forest

Soil fungi are highly diverse and act as the primary agents of nutrient cycling in forests. These fungal communities are often dominated by mycorrhizal fungi that form mutually beneficial relationships with plant roots and some mycorrhizal fungi produce extracellular and cell-bound enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of nitrogen (N)- and phosphorus (P)- containing compounds in soil organic matter. Here we investigated whether the community structure of different types of mycorrhizal fungi (arbuscular and ectomycorrhizal fungi) is correlated with soil chemistry and enzyme activity in a northern hardwood forest and whether these correlations change over the growing season. We quantified these relationships in an experimental paired plot study where white-tailed deer (access or excluded 4.5 yrs) treatment was crossed with garlic mustard (presence or removal 1 yr). We collected soil samples early and late in the growing season and analyzed them for soil chemistry, extracellular enzyme activity and molecular analysis of both arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) and ectomycorrhizal/saprotrophic fungal communities using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP). AM fungal communities did not change seasonally but were positively correlated with the activities of urease and leucine aminopeptidase (LAP), enzymes involved in N cycling. The density of garlic mustard was correlated with the presence of specific AM fungal species, while deer exclusion or access had no effect on either fungal community after 4.5 yrs. Ectomycorrhizal/saprotrophic fungal communities changed seasonally and were positively correlated with most soil enzymes, including enzymes involved in carbon (C), N and P cycling, but only during late summer sampling. Our results suggest that fine scale temporal and spatial changes in soil fungal communities may affect soil nutrient and carbon cycling. Although AM fungi are not generally considered capable of producing extracellular enzymes, the correlation between some AM taxa and the activity of N acquisition enzymes suggests that these fungi may play a role in forest understory N cycling.     

Chronic N deposition does not apparently alter the biochemical composition of forest floor and soil organic matter

Future rates of atmospheric N deposition have the potential to slow litter decay and increase the accumulation of soil organic matter by repressing the activity of lignolytic soil microorganisms. We investigated the relationship between soil biochemical characteristics and enzymatic responses in a series of sugar maple (Acer saccharum)-dominated forests that have been subjected to 16 yrs of chronic N deposition (ambient + 3 g NO₃⁻–N m⁻² yr⁻¹), in which litter decay has slowed and soil organic matter has accumulated in sandy spodosols. Cupric-oxide-extractable lignin-derived phenols were quantified to determine the presence, source, and relative oxidation state of lignin-like compounds under ambient and experimental N deposition. Pools of respired C and mineralized N, along with rate constants for these processes, were used to quantify biochemically labile substrate pools during a 16-week laboratory incubation. Extracellular enzymes mediating cellulose and lignin metabolism also were measured under ambient and experimental N deposition, and these values were compared with proxies for the relative oxidation of lignin in forest floor and surface mineral soil. Chronic N deposition had no influence on the pools or rate constants for respired C and mineralized N. Moreover, neither the total amount of extractable lignin (forest floor, P = 0.260; mineral soil, P = 0.479), nor the relative degree of lignin oxidation in the forest floor or mineral soil (forest floor P = 0.680; mineral soil P = 0.934) was influenced by experimental N deposition. Given their biochemical attributes, lignin-derived molecules in forest floor and mineral soil appear to originate from fine roots, rather than leaf litter. Under none of the studied circumstances was the presence or relative oxidation of lignin correlated with the activity of cellulolytic and lignolytic extracellular enzymes. Although chronic atmospheric N deposition has slowed litter decay and increased organic matter in our experiment, it had little effect on biochemical composition of lignin-derived molecules in forest floor and surface mineral soil suggesting organic matter has accumulated by other means. Moreover, the specific dynamics of lignin phenol decay is decoupled from short-term organic matter accumulation under chronic N deposition in this ecosystem.     

Correlation between earthworms and plant litter decomposition in a tropical wet forest of Puerto Rico

Earthworms are recognized to play an important role in the decomposition of organic materials. To test the use of earthworms as an indicator of plant litter decomposition, we examined the abundance and biomass of earthworms in relation to plant litter decomposition in a tropical wet forest of Puerto Rico. We collected earthworms at 0–0.1 m and 0.1–0.25 m soil depths from upland and riparian sites that represent the natural variation in soils and decomposition rates within the forest. Earthworms were hand-sorted and weighed for both fresh and dry biomass. Earthworms were dominated by the exotic endogeic species Pontoscolex corethrurus Müller; they were more abundant, and had higher biomasses in the upland than in riparian sites of the forest. Plant leaf litter decomposed faster in the upland than riparian sites. We found that earthworm abundance in the upper 0.1 m of the soil profile positively correlated with decomposition rate of plant leaf litter. Ground litter removal had no effect on the abundance or biomass of endogeic earthworms. Our data suggest that earthworms can be used to predict decomposition rates of plant litter in the tropical wet forest, and that the decomposition of aboveground plant litter has little influence on the abundance and biomass of endogeic earthworms.     

Impact of N and P fertilizer application on nutrient cycling in jarrah (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Eucalyptus marginata</Emphasis>) forests of south western Australia

Jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata Donn ex Smith) forest grows on poor soils with low stores of plant-available nutrients. We evaluated the impact of fertilizers on nutrient cycling in soil under Jarrah forest using a field study with three rates of P (0, 50, 200 kg P ha^–1) and three rates of N (0, 100, 200 kg N ha^–1) in a full factorial design. Litterfall was significantly increased by N application (30% relative to controls) in the first 2 years after treatment and by P application in the second year. The amounts of N, P, K, Ca and Mg in litterfall were also increased significantly by both N and P fertilizer. Although fertilizer treatments did not affect the total amount of litter accumulated on the forest floor over 4–5 years after application, there were large treatment differences in the amounts of N and P stored in the forest floor. Microbial respiration in litter was significantly greater (19%) on P-treated plots relative to controls, but this increase did not translate into increased decomposition rates as measured in long-term (5-year) mesh-bag studies. The results indicate that factors other than nutrition are mainly responsible for controlling the rate of decomposition in this ecosystem. Application of P, in particular, resulted in substantial accumulation of P in forest floor litter over 5 years. This accumulation was partly a result of the deposition of P in litterfall, but was also probably a result of translocation of P from the mineral soil. During the 5-year decomposition study, there was no net release of P from leaf litter and, at the highest rate of P application, the amounts of P stored in forest floor litter were more than four-fold greater than in fresh litter. Regular fire, a common phenomenon in these ecosystems, may be an important P-mobilizing agent for enhancing plant P uptake in these forests.     

Fine litter chemistry, early-stage decay, and nitrogen dynamics under plantations and primary forest in Lowland Amazonia

One year field exposures of leaf litter from replicated plots of Pinus caribaea var. hondurensis Barrett and Golfari, Carapa guianensis Aubl., Euxylophora paraensis Hub., a Leguminosae combination (Dalbergia nigra Fr. All., Dinizia excelsa Ducke, Parkia multijuga Benth.), and adjacent upland (terra firme) forest at the Curuá-Una Forest Reserve, Pará, Brazil were used to examine the factors controlling leaf litter decay and N dynamics in a lowland tropical environment. Initial leaf litter N concentrations ranged from 4.4 (P. caribaea) to 16.3 mg g⁻¹ dry matter (Leguminosae), and initial lignin concentrations from 190.8 (Leguminosae) to 459.3 mg g⁻¹ dry matter (forest). Pinus caribaea leaf litter lost the least mass (28%), and the Leguminosae leaf litter the most (61%), during the year long incubations. Initial and 1-y proximate C fractions, N concentrations and polyphenol concentrations were not related to mass loss. Annual N accumulation or depletion from leaf litter under the plantations and forest was related to C loss (R²=0.93, P=0.007) and holocellulose loss (R²=0.84, P=0.02). When leaf litter was placed outside its stand of origin, there was a significant location effect on decay rates, indicating that differences in the physical and biological microenvironments under the monospecific plots affected litter decomposition.     

Importance of biological processes in the sulfur budget of a northern hardwood ecosystem

Summary Total S, organic S and sulfate were measured in foliage, litter, roots, soil and solutions at a hardwood site within the Adirondack Mountains of New York. Sulfate as a percentage of total S was similar in foliage and litter (10%), but was greater in roots (30%). Sulfur constituents in the hardwood forest ecosystem were dominated by C-bonded S (60 g m^–2) and ester sulfate (16 g m^–2) which are formed by biological processes. Because sulfur mineralization (1.42 g m^–2 yr^–1) was greater than wet precipitation inputs (0.82 g m^–2 yr^–1), those factors that influence mineralization-immobilization processes are important in evaluating S cycling and sulfate fluxes in this ecosystem. Ester sulfate was formed within the forest floor by the soil biota and was leached to mineral horizons. Annual turnover of this pool was high (25%) within the mineral forest floor. Forest-floor C-bonded S was derived from root and above-ground litter, and substantial amounts were leached to mineral horizons. Calculated storage + outputs (1.64 g m^–2 yr^–1) was much greater than wet inputs (0.82 g m^–2 yr^–1).