Analysis of litter decomposition in an alpine tundra

Canadian Journal of Botany

Volumn 76, Issue 7, 1998, Pages 1295-1304

  Bryant, David M ^a,c   Holland, Elisabeth A ^b   Seastedt, Timothy R ^a   Walker, Marilyn D ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO   (United States)

^b NATIONAL CENTER FOR ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH   (United States)

^c UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE   (United States)

Author keywords

Alpine tundra; LIDET; Litter decomposition; Nitrogen deposition; Niwot Ridge

Indexed keywords

ALPINE TUNDRA; AMMONIUM NITRATE; CARBON DIOXIDE FIXATION; CHEMISTRY; CLIMATE; LITTER; LITTER DECOMPOSITION; NUTRIENT CYCLING; ORGANIC MATTER; SOIL; SOIL MOISTURE; UNITED STATES;

DECOMPOSITION; ECOSYSTEM DYNAMICS; LITTER; NUTRIENT CYCLING;

EID: 0032464069     PISSN: 00084026     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1139/b98-117     Document Type: Article

References (45)

1. Aber, J.D., and Melillo, J.M. 1982. Nitrogen immobilization in decaying hardwood leaf litter as a function of initial nitrogen and lignin content. Can. J. Bot. 60: 2263-2269.
2. Aber, J.D., and Melillo, J.M. 1991. Terrestrial ecosystems. Saunders College Publishing, Philadelphia, Pa.
3. Aber, J.D., Melillo, J.M., and McClaugherty, C.A. 1990. Predicting long-term patterns of mass loss, nitrogen dynamics and soil organic matter formation from initial fine litter chemistry in temperate forest ecosystems. Can. J. Bot. 68: 2201-2208.
4. Berendse, F., Berg, B., and Bosatta, E. 1987. The effect of lignin and nitrogen on decomposition of litter in nutrient-poor ecosystems: a theoretical approach. Can. J. Bot. 65: 1116-1120.
5. 15N) in decomposing Scots pine needle litter. Long-term decomposition in a Scots pine forest. VI. Can. J. Bot. 66: 1539-1546.
6. Bowman, W.D. 1992. Inputs and storage of N in winter snowpacks in an alpine ecosystem. Arct. Alp. Res. 24: 211-215.
7. Effland, M.J. 1977. Modified procedure to determine acid insoluble lignin in wood and pulp. Tappi, 60: 143-144.
8. Fisk, M.C. 1995. Nitrogen dynamics in an alpine tundra. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colo.
9. Fisk, M.C., and Schmidt, S.K. 1995. Nitrogen turnover by sequential immobilization and mineralization during residue decomposition in soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 59: 1036.
10. Flannagan, P.W., and Veum, A.K. 1974. Relationships between respiration, weight loss, and temperature and moisture in organic residues on tundra. In Soil organisms and decomposition in tundra. Edited by A.J. Holding. Tundra Biome Steering Committee, Stockholm, Sweden.
11. Fog, K. 1988. The effect of added nitrogen on the rate of decomposition of organic matter. Biol. Rev. Cambridge Philos. Soc. 66: 433-462.
12. Fogel, R., and Cromack, K., Jr. 1977. Effect of habitat and substrate quality of Douglas-fir litter decomposition in western Oregon. Can. J. Bot. 55:1632-1640.
13. Heal, O.W., and French, D.D. 1974. Decomposition of organic matter in tundra. In Soil organisms and decomposition in tundra. Edited by A.J. Holding. Tundra Biome Steering Committee, Stockholm, Sweden.
14. Hobbie, S.E. 1996. Temperature and plant species control over litter decomposition in Alaskan tundra. Ecol. Monogr. 66: 503-522.
15. Holland, E.A., and Coleman, D.C. 1987. Litter placement effects on microbial and organic matter dynamics in an agroecosystem. Ecology, 68: 425-433.
16. Hunt, H.W., Ingham, E.R., Coleman, D.C., Elliott, E.T., and Reid, C.P.P. 1988. Nitrogen limitation of production and decomposition in prairie mountain meadow and forest. Ecology. 69: 1009-1016.
17. Ingham, E.R., and Klein, D.A. 1984. Soil fungi: measurement of hyphal lengths. Soil Biol. Biochem. 12: 279-280.
18. Kelly, J.M., and Henderson, G.S. 1978. Effects of nitrogen and phosphorus additions on deciduous litter decomposition. Soil Sci. Soc. Am J. 42: 972-976.
19. Kirk, K.T. 1987. Enzymatic "combustion": the microbial degradation of lignin. Annu. Rev. Microbiol. 41: 465-505.
20. Leathum, G.F., and Kirk, T.K. 1983. Regulation of lignolytic activity by nutrient nitrogen in white-rot basidiomycetes. FEMS Micro. Lett. 16: 65-67.
21. Lewis, W.M., Grant, M.C., and Saunders, J.F., III 1984. Chemical patterns of bulk atmospheric deposition in the state of Colorado. Water Resour. Res. 20: 1691-1704.
22. May, D.E., and Webber, P.J. 1975. Summary of soil and plant canopy temperatures for the major vegetation types from Niwot Ridge, CO, for the period July 1972 - October 1974. U.S. Tundra Biome Data Rep. No. 75-80.
23. McClaugherty, C.A., and Berg, B. 1987. Cellulose and nitrogen concentrations as rate regulating factors in late stages of litter decomposition. Pedobiologia, 30: 101-112.
24. McClaugherty, C., Pastor, A.J., and Aber, J.D. 1985. Forest litter decomposition in relation to soil nitrogen dynamics and litter quality. Ecology, 66: 266-275.
25. Meentmeyer, V. 1978. Macroclimate and lignin control of litter decomposition rates. Ecology, 59: 465-472.
26. Melillo, J.M., and Aber, J.D. 1984. Nutrient immobilization in decaying litter: an example of carbon-nutrient interactions. In Trends in ecological research in the 1980s. Edited by J.H. Coley and F.P. Goller. Plenum Press, New York. pp. 193-214.
27. Melillo, J.M., Aber, J.D., and Muratore, J.F. 1982. Nitrogen and lignin control of hardwood leaf litter decomposition dynamics. Ecology, 63: 621-626.
28. Melillo, J.M., Aber, J.D., Likens, A.E., Ricca, A., Fry, B., and Nadelhoffer, K. 1989. Carbon and nitrogen dynamics along the decay continuum: plant litter to soil organic matter. In Ecology of arable lands. Edited by M. Clarholm and L. Bergstrom. Kluwer, London, U.K. p. 297.
29. Newman, S.D., Soulia, M.E., Aber, J.D., Dewey, B., and Ricca, A. 1995. Analysis of forest foliage I: laboratory procedures for proximate carbon fraction and nitrogen determination. J. Near Infrared Spectrosc. 21: 398-412.
30. O'Lear, H.A., and Seastedt, T.R. 1994. Landscape patterns of litter decomposition in alpine tundra. Oecologia, 99: 95-99.
31. Schlesinger, W.H. 1991. Biogeochemistry, an analysis of global change. Academic Press, San Diego, Calif.
32. Seastedt, T.R., and Crossley, D.A., Jr. 1980. Effects of microarthopods on the seasonal dynamics of nutrients in forest litter. Soil Biol. Biochem. 12: 333-342.
33. Seastedt, T.R., Parton, W.J., and Ojima, D.S. 1992. Mass loss and nitrogen dynamics of decaying litter of grasslands: the apparent low nitrogen immobilization potential of root detritus. Can. J. Bot. 70: 384-391.
34. Sievering, H.D., Burton, D., and Caine, N. 1992. Atmospheric loading of nitrogen to alpine in the Colorado Front Range. Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 6: 339-346.
35. Sokal, R.R., and Rohlf, F.S. 1995. Biometry, the principles and practice of statistics in biological research. 2nd ed. W.H. Freeman, San Fransisco, Calif. 859 pp.
36. Swift, M.J., Heal O.W., and Anderson, J.M. 1979. Decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems. Stud. Ecol. No. 5.
37. Taylor, B., Parkinson, R.D., and Parsons, W.F. 1989. Nitrogen and lignin content as predictors of litter decay rates: a microcosm test. Ecology, 70: 97-104.
38. Taylor, R.V., and Seastedt, T.R. 1994. Short- and long-term patterns of soil moisture in alpine tundra. Arctic Alp. Res. 26: 14-20.
39. van Cleve, K. 1974. Organic matter quality in relation to decomposition. In Soil organisms and decomposition in tundra. Edited by A.J. Holding. Tundra Biome Steering Committee, Stockholm, Sweden.
40. 15N on litter decomposition in a heathland. Soil Biol. Biochem. 24: 527-532.
41. Vitousek, P.M., Turner, D.R., Parton, W.J., and Sanford, R.L. 1994. Litter decomposition on the Mauna Loa environmental matrix, Hawai'i: patterns, mechanisms and models. Ecology, 75: 418-429.
42. Walker, D.A., Halfpenny, J.C., Walker, M.D., and Wessman, C.A. 1993. Long-term studies of snow vegetation interactions. BioScience, 43: 287-301.
43. Walker, M.D., Webber, P.J., Arnold, E.H., and May, D.E. 1994. Effects of interannual climate variations on phytomass in alpine tundra. Ecology, 75: 393-408.
44. Webber, P.J., and Ebert May, D.C. 1977. The magnitude and distribution of belowground plant structures in the alpine tundra of Niwot Ridge, Colorado. Arct. Alp. Res. 9: 157-174.
45. Witkamp, M. 1966. Decomposition of leaf litter in relation to environment, microflora, and microbial respiration. Ecology, 47: 194-201.