Variation in quality and decomposability of red oak leaf litter along an urban-rural gradient |
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Authors: | M M Carreiro K Howe D F Parkhurst R V Pouyat |
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Institution: | (1) Louis Calder Center, Fordham University, Box K, Armonk, NY 10504, USA e-mail: carreiro@fordham.edu Tel.: +1-914-2733078 Fax: +1-914-273-2167, US;(2) Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Box AB, Millbrook, NY 12545, USA, US;(3) School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA, IN;(4) USDA Forest Service, Northeast Forest Research Station, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA, US |
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Abstract: | This study tested whether urban land use can affect the chemistry and decomposability of Quercus rubra L. (red oak) leaf litter in forests within and near a large metropolitan area. Cities may affect the quality of leaf litter
directly through foliar uptake of atmospheric pollutants, and indirectly through alterations in local climate and changes
in soil fertility caused by pollutant loads and altered nutrient cycling regimes. Using a microbial bioassay, we tested whether
red oak leaf litter collected from urban and suburban forests in and near New York City differed in decomposability from litter
of the same species collected from rural forests 130 km from the city. We found that oak litter from the urban forests decayed
25% more slowly and supported 50% less cumulative microbial biomass in a laboratory bioassay than rural litter. Rural litter
contained less lignin and more labile material than urban litter, and the amounts of these chemical constituents were highly
correlated with the decay rate coefficients and integrated microbial growth achieved on the litter. The specific causes of
the variation in litter chemistry are not known. The results of this study suggest that decomposer activity and nutrient cycling
in forests near large cities may be affected both by altered litter quality and by altered biotic, chemical and physical environments.
The sensitivity of the microbial bioassay makes it useful for distinguishing differences in within-species litter quality
that result from natural or anthropogenic variation in the environment.
Received: 7 January 1999 |
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Keywords: | Leaf litter quality Forest litter decomposition Urban land use Microbial bioassay Quercus rubra |
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