Decomposition plant litter

R. L. Sinsabaugh, R. K. Antibus, and A. E. Linkins, An enzymatic approach to the analysis of microbial activity during plant litter decomposition. Agricult. Ecosyst. Environ.. 14 43 (1991). 

A. P. Whitmore, E. Handayanto, Simulating the mineralization of N from crop residues in relation to residue quality. Driven by Nature—Plant Litter Quality and Decomposition (G. Cadish and K. E. Giller, eds.), CAB International, Wallingford, 1997, p. 337. 

Jensen, V. Decomposition of angiosperm tree leaf litter, pp. 69-104. In C. H. Dickinson, and G. J. F. Pugh, Eds. Biology of Plant Litter Decomposition. Vol. 1. New York Academic Press, 1974. 

Hammel, K. E. (1997). Fungal degradation of lignin. In Driven by nature—Plant Litter Quality and Decomposition, Cadisch, G., and Giller, K. E., eds., CAB International, Wallingford, UK, pp. 33—45. 

Figure 6.7. Simplifed soil carbon cycling scheme. Major inputs (plant litter) to and outputs (respiration and erosion) from the soil carbon reservoir. The observed flux of C out of the soil can be modeled by assuming three pools of carbon an active pool with a turnover time on the order of years, an intermediate pool with a turnover time on the order of decades to centuries, and a passive pool with a turnover time on the order of millennia. The decomposition constant is k = 1/t. Subscripts a, i, and p refer to the active, intermediate, and passive C pools, respectively. Adapted with permission from Amundson, R. (2001). The carbon budget in soils. Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 29, 535-562.

I. Litter Decomposition Experiments. The rate of mass loss of fresh plant litter may be used to estimate litter decomposition rates, assuming first-order kinetics ... 

Harmon, M. E., Nadelhoffer, K. J., and Blair, J. M. (1999). Measuring decomposition, nutrient turnover, and stores in plant litter. In Standard Soil Methods for Long-Term Ecological Research. Robertson, G. R, Bledsoe, C. S., Coleman, D. C., and Sollins, R, eds., Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 202-240. 

Figure 3.1 Decomposition and carbon turnover in soil A conceptual diagram summarizing the main elements of the initial Rothamsted carbon model (Jen-kinson 1971). To this we have added other small, but potentially functionally important, compartments the volatile organic carbon and the dissolved organic carbon derived during both decomposition of litter and exudation from plants. An inert organic matter pool is added as this appears in later versions of the Rothamsted model.

Most studies examining fungal participation in biogeochemical cycles in freshwater ecosystems focused on the role of fungi in the decomposition of plant litter. Historically, the lack of appropriate methods to accurately quantify... 

Gessner, M. O., Suberkropp, K. Chauvet, E. (1997). Decomposition of plant litter by fungi in marine and freshwater ecosystems. In The Mycota, Vol. IV. Environmental and Microbial Relationships, ed. D. T. Wicklow B. E. Soderstrom. Berlin Springer-Verlag, pp. 303-22. 

Thormann, M. N., Bayley, S. E. Currah, R. S. (2001). Comparison of decomposition of belowground and aboveground plant litters in peatlands of boreal Alberta, Canada. Canadian Journal of Botany, 79, 9-22. 

One of the difficulties in getting information on research already carried out in Brazil is that the dissertations of graduate students in the universities are seldom published in indexed journals. There has been no attempt to compare the cerrados with other savannas in South America, other continents, or Amazon forests because the information available from the cerrados on quantitative aspects of nutrient cycling in natural ecosystems is very meager (Baruch et al. 1996). There are several important studies reported from the Amazon region on nutrient concentrations in plants, litter decomposition, and hydrological cycles over the last couple of... 

SOM is composed of a continuum of organic resources from fresh plant residues to stabilized organic matter (OM) or humus (Stevenson, 1994). Although this definition of SOM includes intact plant litter, in this review we will often distinguish between decomposition of litter on the soil surface and decomposition/stabilization of OM within the mineral soil. Within the mineral soil, SOM is often divided into four categories the light fraction, microbial biomass (discussed above), dissolved organic matter (DOM), and stable humic substances. 

Decomposition is essentially a microbial process whose rate is regulated by a suite of physical and biological controls. At the microscopic level, many of the biochemical details of microbial degradation of specific carbon and nitrogen compounds have been well documented. However, beyond this scale, most of our understanding of decomposition becomes empirical in nature. As we have highlighted in this review, there exists a wealth of data on the decomposition of plant litter while root and soil OM have received significantly... 

Erench D. D. (1988) Some effects of changing soil chemistry on decomposition of plant litters and cellulose on a Scottish [UK] moor. Oecologia (Berlin) 75(4), 608-618. 

Gonzalez G. and Seastedt T. R. (2001) Soil fauna and plant litter decomposition in tropical and subalpine forests. Ecology 82(4), 955-964. 

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