Cumulative effects of nitrogen additions on litter decomposition in three tropical forests in southern China |
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Authors: | Hua Fang Jiangming Mo Shaolin Peng Zhian Li Hui Wang |
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Institution: | (1) South China Botanical Garden, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dinghu, Zhaoqing, Guangdong, 526070, China;(2) Guangzhou Institute of Geography, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510070, China;(3) The Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100039, China;(4) School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, China |
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Abstract: | A field-scale experiment with nitrogen (N) addition treatments was performed in three forest types – a pine (Pinus massoniana Lamb.) forest, a pine-broadleaf mixed forest (mixed) and a mature monsoon evergreen broadleaf forest (mature) – in tropical
China. Two kinds of leaf litter, Schima superba Chardn. & Champ. and Castanopsis chinensis Hance, were studied using the litterbag technique after more than 2 years of continuous N additions. The objective of this
study was to understand the cumulative effect of N addition on litter decomposition in the tropical forests and to determine
if the initial effects of N addition changes over time. Results indicated that leaf litter decomposition was significantly
faster in the mature forest than in the mixed or pine forests. The mean fraction of mass remaining after 12-months of decomposition
was: mature (0.22) < mixed (0.50) < pine (0.51) for the two litters. Nitrogen addition significantly depressed litter decomposition
in the pine forest and the mature forest, but had no significant effect in the mixed forest. These results suggest that N
deposition has significant cumulative effect on litter decomposition. |
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Keywords: | N deposition Litter decomposition Cumulative effect Tropical forest |
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