Abstract
In order to explore the release of nutrients and the effects of global warming on the decomposition rate of forest litter, an experiment is designed to reciprocally decompose forest foliar litter in two sites across climatic zones: Mt. Jianfengling in Hainan Province in the tropics and Mt. Dinghushan in Guangdong Province in the subtropics. The two sites have similar altitudes, soil types, annual mean rainfall and seasonality of dry and wet. The main difference between these two sites is the annual mean temperature with the difference of 3.7°C. Foliar litters of 10 native dominant tree species have been collected respectively from the two sites and divided into single-species litter and mixed litter. They are decomposed reciprocally in the two sites. The results indicate that litter decomposes in the tropical site 1.36–3.06 times more rapidly than in the subtropical site. Apparent Q 10, calculated on the basis of the temperature difference between the two sites, ranges from 3.7 to 7.5. The return amount of N, P and C will increase by 32.42, 1.033 and 741.1 kg/hm2, respectively in Mt. Dinghushan in the first year’s litter decomposition under the prevailing temperature condition. Only in Mt. Dinghushan is the correlation between decomposition rate constant and initial litter quality high and significant in the ratio of lignin to N, lignin, the ratio of lignin to P, HLQ and C. This is not the case at Mt. Jianfengling.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Aber J. D., Melillo J. M., McClaughty C. A., Predicting long-term patterns of mass loss, nitrogen dynamics and soil organic matter formation from initial fine chemistry in temperate forest ecosystems, Can. J. Bot., 1990, 68: 2,201–2,208
Agro-Chemistry Committee of China Soil Society, Routine Analysis Methods for Soil Agro-Chemistry, Beijing: Science Press, 1983: 267–278 [中国土壤学会农业化学专业委员会, 土壤农业化学常规分析方法, 北京: 科学出版社, 1983: 272–278]
Anderson J. M., Swift M. J., Decomposition in tropical forests. In: Sutton S. L., Whitmore T. C., Chadwick A. C. (eds.), Tropical Rain Forest: Ecology and Management. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific, 1983: 287–309
Berg B., Ekbohm G., Decomposition needle litter in Pinus contorta (lodgepole pine) and Pinus sylvestris (Scots pine) monocultural systems—Is there a maximum mass loss? Scand. J. For. Res., 1993, 8: 457–465
Berg B., Staaf H., Leaching, accumulation and release of nitrogen in decomposing forest litter. In: Clark F. E., Rosswell T. (eds.), Terrestrial Nitrogen Cycles: Processes, Ecosystem Strategies and Management Impacts, Blackwell Publishing, Ecol. Bull., 1981, 33: 163–178
Berg B., Ekbohm G., Johansson M. B., McClaugherty C., Rutigliano F., De Santo A. V., Maximum decomposition limits of forest litter types: A synthesis, Can. J. Bot., 1996, 74: 659–672
Berg B., Ekbom G., McClaughty C., Lignin and holocellulose relations during long-term decomposition of some forest litters, Long-term decomposition in a Scots pine forest, IV., Can. J. Bot., 1984, 62: 2,540–2,550
Blair J. M., Crossley D. A., Callaham L. C., Effects of litter quality and microarthropods on N dynamics and relation of exogenous 15N in decomposing litter, Biol. Fert. Soils., 1992, 12: 241–252
Blair J. M., Parmelee R. W., Beare M. H., Decay rates, nitrogen fluxes, and decomposer communities of single-and mixed-species foliar litter, Ecology, 1990, 71: 1,976–1,985
Brady N. C, Weil R. R., The Nature and Properties of Soils, Vol. 11. Englewood Cliffs (US): Prentice-Hall, 1996: 740
Chapman K., Whittaker J. B., Heal O. W., Metabolic and faunal activity in litters of tree mixtures compared with pure stands, Agr., Ecosys. Environ., 1988, 24: 33–40
Coulson J. C., Butterfield J., An investigation of the biotic factors determining the rates of plant decomposition on blanket bog, J. Ecol., 1978, 66: 631–650
Cromack K. Jr., Litter production and decomposition in a mixed hardwood watershed and in a white pine watershed at Coweeta Hydrologic Station, North Carolina, Doctor thesis. Georgia, USA: University of Georgia, 1973
Cuevas E., Medina E., Nutrient dynamics within Amazonian forests, II. Fine root growth, nutrients availability and leaf litter decomposition, Oecologia, 1988, 76: 222–235
Dyer M. L., Meentemeyer V., Berg B., Apparent controls of mass loss rate of leaf litter on a regional scale, Scand. J. For. Res., 1990, 5: 311–323
Flanagan P. W., Van Cleve K., Nutrient cycling in relation to decomposition and organic matter quality in taiga ecosystems, Can. J. For. Res., 1983, 13: 795–817
Heal O. W., French D. D., Decomposition of organic matter in tundra. In: Holding A. J., Heal O. W., Maclean S. F., Flanagan P. W. (eds.), Soil organisms and decomposition in tundra, Stockholm: IBP Tundra Biome Steering Committee, 1974: 227–248
Heal O. W., Anderson J. M., Swift M. J., Plant litter quality and decomposition: an historical overview. In: Cadisch G., Giller K. E. (eds.), Driven by nature: plant litter quality and decomposition, Wallingford UK: CAB International, 1997: 3–30
Heaney A. and Proctor J., Chemical elements in litter on Volcan Barva, Costa Rica. In: Proctor J. (ed), Mineral nutrients in tropical forest and savanna ecosystems, Oxford: Blackwell Scientific, 1989: 225–271
Hill H. H., Decomposition of organic matter in soils, J. Agr. Res., 1926, 33: 77–79
Hu Y. H., Chen L. Z., Kong F. Z., Ren J. K., The study on the litter decomposition of Chinese pine and oriental oak, Acta Bot. Sin., 1986, 28(1): 102–110 [胡肄慧, 陈灵芝, 孔繁志, 任继凯, 油松和栓皮栎枯叶分解作用的研究, 植物学报, 1986, 28(1): 102–110]
Jenney H. S., Gessel P., Bingham F. T., Comparative study of decomposition rates of organic matter in temperate and tropical regions, Soil Sci., 1949, 68: 419–432
Jensen H. L., On the influence of the carbon nitrogen ratios of organic materials on the mineralization of nitrogen, J. Agr. Sci., 1929, 19: 71–82
Jiang Y. X., Lu J. P., Zen Q. B., Huang Q., Xu D. Y., Liu Y. F., Gong M. Q., Gu M. S., Ma R. F., Wang D. Z., Chen Z. Q., Zheng D. Z., Liu Q. H., Li Y. D., Li S. Q., Tropical Forest Ecosystems in Jiangfenglin, Hainan Island, China, Beijiang: Science Press, 1991 [蒋有绪, 卢俊培, 曾庆波, 黄全, 徐德应, 刘元福, 弓明钦, 顾茂彬, 马荣芳, 王德祯, 陈芝卿, 郑德璋, 刘其汉, 李意德, 李善淇, 中国海南岛尖峰岭热带林生态系统, 北京: 科学出版社, 1991]
Killham K., Foster R., Soil Ecology, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994
Lin K. M., Hong W., Yu X. T., Huang B. L., Decomposition interaction of mixed litter between Chinese fir and various accompanying plant species, Chin. J. Appl. Ecol., 2001, 12(3): 321–325 [林开敏, 洪伟, 俞新妥, 黄宝龙, 杉木与伴生植物凋落物混合分解的相互作用研究, 应用生态学报, 2001, 12(3): 321–325]
Lousier J. D., Parkinson D., Chemical element dynamics in decomposing leaf litter, Can. J. Bot., 1978, 56: 1,785–2,812
Meentemeyer V., Berg B., Regional variation in rate of mass loss of Pinus sylvestris needle litter in Swedish pine forests as influenced by climate and litter quality, Scand. J. For. Res., 1986, 1: 167–180
Meentemeyer V., Macroclimate and lignin control of litter decomposition rates, Ecology, 1978, 59: 465–472
Melillo J. M., Aber J. D., Muratore J. F., Nitrogen and lignin control of hardwood leaf litter decomposition dynamics, Ecology, 1982, 63: 621–626
Mesquita R. C. G., Workman S. W., Needy C. L., Slow litter decomposition in a Cecropia-dominated secondary forest of central Amazonian, Soil Biol. Biochem., 1998, 30: 167–175
Mikola P., Comparative experiment on decomposition rates of forest litter in southern and northern Finland, Oikos, 1960, 11: 161–166
Parnas H., Model for decomposition of organic material by micro-organisms, Soil Biol. Biochem., 1975, 7: 161–169
Peng S. L., Liu Q., The dynamics of forest litter and its responses to global warming, Acta Ecol. Sin., 2002, 22(9): 1,534–1,544 [彭少麟, 刘强, 森林凋落物动态及其对全球变暖的响应, 生态学报, 2002, 22(9): 1,534–1,544]
Peng S. L., The dynamics of forest community in southern-subtropical region, Beijing: Science Press, 1996
Schlesinger W. H., Hasey M. M., Decomposition of chaparral shrub foliage: losses of organic and inorganic constituents from deciduous and evergreen leaves, Ecology, 1981, 62: 762–774
Shanks R. E., Olson J. S., First-year breakdown of leaf litter in southern Appalachian forests, Science, 1961, 134: 194–195
Swift M. J., Heal O., W., Anderson J. M., Decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems, Berkley: University of California Press, 1979
Taylor B. R., Parkinson D., Parsons W. F. J., Nitrogen and lignin content as predictors of litter decay rates: a microcosm test, Ecology, 1989, 70(1): 97–104
Van Soest P. J., Use of detergents in the analysis of fibrous feeds. II. A rapid method for the determination of fiber and lignin, J. Assoc. Offic. Anal. Chem., 1963, 46: 829–835
Vitousek P. M., Turner D. R., Parton W. J., Sanford R. L., Litter decomposition on the Mauna Loa environmental matrix, Hawai’I: patterns, mechanisms, and models, Ecology, 1994, 75(2): 418–429
Wang J., Huang J. H., Comparison of major nutrient release patterns in leaf litter decomposition in warm temperate zone of China, Acta Phytoecol. Sin., 2001, 25(3): 375–380 [王瑾, 黄建辉, 暖温带地区主要树种叶片凋落物分解过程中主要元素释放的比较, 植物生态学报, 2001, 25(3): 375–380]
Weng H., Li Z. A., Tu M. Z., Yao W. H., The production and nutrient contents of litter in forests of Ding Hu Shan Mountain, Acta Phyteoecol. Geo. Sin., 1993, 17(4): 299–304 [翁轰, 李志安, 屠梦照, 姚文华, 鼎湖山凋落物量及营养元素含量研究, 植物生态学与地植物学学报, 1993, 17(4): 299–304]
Witkamp M., Decomposition of leaf litter in relation to environment microflora and microbial respiration, Ecology, 1966, 47: 194–201
Zhang D. Q., Ye W. H., Yu Q. F., Kong G. H., Zhang Y. C., The litter-fall of representative forests of successional series in Dinghushan, Acta Ecol. Sin., 2000, 20(6): 938–944 [张德强, 叶万辉, 余清发, 孔国辉, 张佑倡, 鼎湖山演替系列中代表性森林凋落物研究, 生态学报, 2000, 20(6): 938–944]
Zhou C. Y., Yi W. M., Fu S. L., The decomposition and nutrient release of leaf litters of different tree species, Acta Ecol. Sin., 1995, 15,Supp.(A): 132–140 [周存宇, 蚁伟民, 傅声雷, 不同树种的叶凋落物分解和养分释放研究, 生态学报, 1995, 15(增刊 A 辑): 132–140]
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
__________
Translated from Journal of Beijing Forestry University, 2005, 27(1): 24–32 [译自: 北京林业大学学报, 2005, 27(1): 24–32]
About this article
Cite this article
Liu, Q., Peng, S., Bi, H. et al. Nutrient dynamics of foliar litter in reciprocal decomposition in tropical and subtropical forests. Front. Forest. China 1, 243–252 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11461-006-0027-3
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11461-006-0027-3