Carbohydrate control of nitrogen dynamics in decomposing leaf litter of temperate tree species

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  • 温帯樹種の落葉分解にともなう窒素動態の炭水化物による制御

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Abstract

Nitrogen (N) dynamics in decomposing leaf litter were elucidated for nine tree species over an 18-month period in a cool temperate forest and the effect of carbohydrate content on the N dynamics was evaluated. The pattern of changes in N was quantified in terms of the relative change of N content with respect to the accumulated mass loss of litter (known as Nitrogen Content Increase Rate or NCIR). The remaining mass of leaf litter of the nine tree species declined exponentially during the decomposition, and 2.4% to 40.7% of the original mass remained at the end of the 18-month period. Decomposition rate (as Olson's k) ranged from 0.74 to 2.45 year^-1. The remaining mass of N in leaf litter generally decreased with the decomposition, whereas the relative N content of leaf litter generally increased linearly with the accumulated mass loss of litter (i.e., NCIR values were positive). The NCIR of leaf litter was significantly and positively correlated with initial total carbohydrate content of litter, suggesting that carbohydrates served as a major energy source for decomposer fungi to retain N in decomposing litter.

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