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Chemical Changes During 6 Years of Decomposition of 11 Litters in Some Canadian Forest Sites. Part 1. Elemental Composition, Tannins, Phenolics, and Proximate Fractions

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Abstract

Slowing or even cessation of litter decomposition with time is well-known, but there is insufficient understanding of the chemical changes that contribute to increasing recalcitrance. Samples from the Canadian Intersite Decomposition Experiment (CIDET) were used to determine 6-year chemical changes for all 11 litters from a site with rapid initial decomposition (Morgan Arboretum, MAR) and for three litters at three colder sites. Six-year mass remaining was 17–37% at MAR, with higher values at the colder sites. Atomic C/N ratios declined and phenolics and condensed tannins generally decreased to minimal values. However, for the three species compared across four sites, phenolics and tannins showed small increases for species with the lowest initial values and also tended to increase with increasing mass loss. For the foliar litters at MAR, there was an average increase in proportion of acid-unhydrolyzable residue (AUR) and decreases in proportions of acid-hydrolyzable (ACID) and extractable fractions, with final AUR/(ACID + AUR) ratios within 0.55–0.66. Principal component analysis showed that foliar litters (and to a lesser extent wood) became more alike after 6 years, decomposition being associated with increase of Fe, Al, N, and AUR concentrations and decrease of K, Mg, tannins, phenolics, and non-polar and water-soluble fractions. However, litters were also affected by site soil chemistry, with some high 6-year accumulations of Ca, Mg, Fe, Al, Mn, and Mg at two sites. Increasing recalcitrance likely arises from increasing dominance of complex, less-soluble organic structures, collectively represented by AUR, together with increases in heavy elements such as Al and Fe, which also specifically bind and stabilize organic matter.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Ann Harris and Charlotte Norris (PFC) for chemical analyses, Mark Harmon (Oregon State University) for the initial PA and the Climate Change and Ecosystem Processes Networks of the Canadian Forest Service for support.

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  1. Pacific Forestry Centre, Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada, 506 W. Burnside Rd, Victoria, British Columbia, V8Z 1M5, Canada

    Caroline M. Preston, Jason R. Nault, J. A. Trofymow & Carolyn Smyth

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  1. Caroline M. Preston
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CIDET Working Group

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Correspondence to Caroline M. Preston.

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The members of the CIDET Working Group are listed in Appendix.

Author Contributions

Tony Trofymow is the leader of the whole CIDET study, Jason Nault did the proximate analyses, Caroline Preston was the lead on the tannins, phenolics, and elemental analyses, and Carolyn Smyth did the PCA. Caroline Preston was the lead author, but all authors contributed to data analysis, writing, figures, and revisions. CIDET is an author as per the agreement for data sharing and publication and provided the samples and data on % mass remaining.

Appendix

Appendix

The Canadian Intersite Decomposition Experiment (CIDET) Working Group is a group of researchers cooperating in a 12-year study of litter decomposition and who provided the litter samples, initial litter chemistry and mass loss results reported in this paper. Members include: J. Trofymow (Study leader), Canadian Forest Service (CFS), Pacific Forestry Centre, Victoria, BC; D. Anderson, College of Agriculture, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK; C. Camiré, Faculté Foresterie et de Géomatique, Univ. Laval, Quebec, QC; L. Duchesne, CFS, Great Lakes Forestry Centre, Sault Ste. Marie, ON; J. Fyles, McGill University, Ste–Anne–de–Bellevue, QC; L. Kozak, Agriculture Canada, Land Resource Unit, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK; M. Kranabetter, BC Ministry of Forests, Smithers, BC; T. Moore, McGill University, Montreal, QC; I. Morrison, CFS, Great Lakes Forestry Centre, Sault Ste. Marie, ON; C. Prescott, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC; M. Siltanen and S. ZoltaiFootnote 1, CFS, Northern Forestry Centre, Edmonton, AB; S. Smith, Agriculture and Agrifood Canada, Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre, Summerland, BC; B. Titus, CFS, Pacific Forestry Centre, Victoria, BC; S. Visser, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB; R. Wein, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB; D. White, Dep. Indian and Northern Affairs, Whitehorse, YT; L. Kutny, Inuvik Research Station, Inuvik, NT. Further information on CIDET is available on the web at www.pfc.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/subsite/cidet.

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Preston, C.M., Nault, J.R., Trofymow, J.A. et al. Chemical Changes During 6 Years of Decomposition of 11 Litters in Some Canadian Forest Sites. Part 1. Elemental Composition, Tannins, Phenolics, and Proximate Fractions. Ecosystems 12, 1053–1077 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-009-9266-0

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