Ash Tree Leaf Litter (Fraxinus excelsior L.) Breakdown in Two Different Biotopes and Streams
✍ Scribed by Tadeusz Fleituch; Maria Leichtfried
- Book ID
- 102282546
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2004
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 107 KB
- Volume
- 89
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1434-2944
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✦ Synopsis
Abstract
Coarse (0.5 mm) and fine (0.1 mm) mesh size bag methodology was used for comparing the breakdown of ash tree leaves (Fraxinus excelsior L.) in two biotopes (dry – terrestrial and wet – overflown stream zones) in two low order streams (the Oberer Seebach (OSB), Lower Austria and the Brzezowka stream (BRZ), Beskidy Mountains, southern Poland). In total, 96 bags were exposed in autumn 2000. Ash‐free dry mass (AFDM) ranged in dry zones of both streams from 94–62% (OSB) and 85–53% (BRZ) respectively. The decomposition process was faster in wet zones: 96–33% (OSB) and 56–11% (B) during the study period. Significant differences in ash breakdown and its chemical content between studied streams were found. Total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen content (TN) of AFDM of litter showed increased differences with experiment duration between zones and between two bag types for both streams. The strongest increase of TOC and TN content (100% on average initial content) for bag types, zones, and streams was observed in the first two weeks of the experiment. These results confirm the importance of chemical compounds for microbiological processes (biofilms) in different ecosystem biotopes. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)