Responses of litter decomposition to temperature along a chronosequence of tropical montane rainforest in a microcosm experiment |
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Authors: | Xingbing He Peng Zhang Yonghui Lin Airong Li Xingjun Tian Qing-He Zhang |
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Institution: | (1) School of Life Science, Nanjing University, 210093 Nanjing, People’s Republic of China;(2) Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Conservation and Utilization, Jishou University, 416000 Jishou, People’s Republic of China;(3) Sterling International, Inc., Spokane, WA 99216-1630, USA |
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Abstract: | We conducted a microcosm experiment for studying the decomposition of Altingia obovata leaf litter by the decomposer community at 20 and 30°C from three forest stands (namely a 35-year-old secondary forest, a
47-year-old secondary forest, and a primary forest) of a tropical montane rainforest. Our results showed that rank-order of
the litter decomposition among the three forest stands was not parallel to the stand age. At 20°C, the mass loss of A. obovata leaf litter from the primary forest was higher than those from the two secondary forests, of which the younger stand showed
higher mass loss than did the older one. However, there were no differences in mass loss among these three stands at 30°C.
The mass loss for the two secondary forest stands, but not for the primary forest stand, increased significantly from 20 to
30°C. The level of lignin decomposition among the three stands at 20°C corresponded to their forest stand age, i.e., the primary
forest > the 47-year-old secondary forest > the 35-year-old secondary forest. A rise of 10°C in temperature significantly
increased lignin decomposition for the two secondary forests, while the reverse was true for the primary forest. Carbohydrate
decomposition was positively related to the temperature but not to the stand age. The different responses of litter decomposition
to the forest stand age and temperature might be due to the differences in the microbial activities among the three forest
stands. |
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Keywords: | Altingia obovata Enzyme activity Litter decomposition Stand age Temperature |
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