Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Molecular dynamics of foliar litter and dissolved organic matter during the decomposition process

  • Published:
Biogeochemistry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Decomposing foliar litter organic matter (LOM) in forested watersheds is an essential terrestrial source of dissolved organic matter (DOM) to aquatic ecosystems. To evaluate the relationship of chemical composition between LOM and DOM, we collected freshly fallen leaves of white oak (Quercus alba) and conducted an 80-week field decomposition experiment along a small elevation gradient in a floodplain within the Congaree National Park, South Carolina. Foliar litters were collected for water extraction and instrumental analyses using pyrolysis GC/MS, UV/VIS and fluorescence spectrophotometry. Factor analyses of pyrolysates showed that fresh LOM was mainly composed of lignin compounds (LgC), phenolic compounds (PhC), and carbohydrate (Carb), and the change in composition was relatively small throughout the decomposition process. In contrast, there were two distinct chemical compositions of DOM in early (between 0–8 weeks) and late phases (between 16–80 weeks). The early phase had a higher percentage of PhC, but the late phase contained higher percentages of Carb, unsaturated hydrocarbon (UnSaH), aromatic hydrocarbon (ArH), and nitrogen-containing compounds (Ntg). The fluorescence emission-excitation matrix showed there was an increasing trend in humic and fulvic-like fractions in DOM over time, matching well with increases of UnSaH and ArH fractions from the results of pyrolysis GC/MS. Our study illustrated that the changes of chemical components in LOM and water extractable DOM were not parallel during the decomposition process and the degradation of lignin and phenolic compounds was one of the controlling factors on the production of DOM.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Barreto C, Lindo Z (2018) Drivers of decomposition and the detrital invertebrate community differ across a hummock-hollow microtopology in Boreal peatlands. Ecoscience 25:39–48

    Google Scholar 

  • Biller P, Ross AB (2014) Pyrolysis GC-MS as a novel analysis technique to determine the biochemical composition of microalgae. Algal Res 6:91–97

    Google Scholar 

  • Blosser GD (2018) Assessment of aboveground net primary productivity and carbon pools, detrital biomass, community structure, and species composition across a floodplain forest of the Congaree River. Ph.D. dissertation, Clemson University.

  • Bonanomi G, Incerti G, Giannino F, Mingo A, Lanzotti V, Mazzoleni S (2013) Litter quality assessed by solid state 13C NMR spectroscopy predicts decay rate better than C/N and Lignin/N ratios. Soil Biol Biochem 56:40–48

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradford MA, Berg B, Maynard DS, Wieder WR, Wood SA (2016) Understanding the dominant controls on litter decomposition. J Ecol 104:229–238

    Google Scholar 

  • Cao C, Liu SQ, Ma ZB, Lin Y, Su Q, Chen H, Wang JJ (2018) Dynamics of multiple elements in fast decomposing vegetable residues. Sci Total Environ 616:614–621

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen W, Westerhoff P, Leenheer JA, Booksh K (2003) Fluorescence excitation—emission matrix regional integration to quantify spectra for dissolved organic matter. Environ Sci Technol 37:5701–5710

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen H, Blosser GD, Majidzadeh H, Liu XJ, Conner WH, Chow AT (2018) Integration of an automated identification-quantification pipeline and statistical techniques for pyrolysis GC/MS tracking of the molecular fingerprints of natural organic matter. J Anal Appl Pyrol 134:371–380

    Google Scholar 

  • Chow AT, Dahlgren RA, Zhang Q, Wong PK (2008) Relationships between specific ultraviolet absorbance and trihalomethane precursors of different carbon sources. J Water Supply Res Technol 57:471–480

    Google Scholar 

  • Chow AT, Lee ST, O'Geen AT, Orozco T, Beaudette D, Wong PK, Hernes PJ, Tate KW, Dahlgren RA (2009) Litter contributions to dissolved organic matter and disinfection byproduct precursors in California oak woodland watersheds. J Environ Qual 38:2334–2343

    Google Scholar 

  • Chow AT, Dai JN, Conner WH, Hitchcock DR, Wang JJ (2013) Dissolved organic matter and nutrient dynamics of a coastal freshwater forested wetland in Winyah Bay, South Carolina. Biogeochemistry 112:571–587

    Google Scholar 

  • Cleveland CC, Neff JC, Townsend AR, Hood E (2004) Composition, dynamics, and fate of leached dissolved organic matter in terrestrial ecosystems: results from a decomposition experiment. Ecosystems 7:275–285

    Google Scholar 

  • Cory RM, McKnight DM (2005) Fluorescence spectroscopy reveals ubiquitous presence of oxidized and reduced quinones in dissolved organic matter. Environ Sci Technol 39:8142–8149

    Google Scholar 

  • Cotrufo MF, Wallenstein MD, Boot CM, Denef K, Paul E (2013) The microbial efficiency-matrix stabilization (MEMS) framework integrates plant litter decomposition with soil organic matter stabilization: do labile plant inputs form stable soil organic matter? Global Change Biol 19:988–995

    Google Scholar 

  • Cusack DF, Chou WW, Yang WH, Harmon ME, Silver WL, Team L (2009) Controls on long-term root and leaf litter decomposition in neotropical forests. Global Change Biol 15:1339–1355

    Google Scholar 

  • Don A, Kalbitz K (2005) Amounts and degradability of dissolved organic carbon from foliar litter at different decomposition stages. Soil Biol Biochem 37:2171–2179

    Google Scholar 

  • Fabbri D, Mongardi M, Montanari L, Galletti GC, Chiavari G, Scotti R (1998) Comparison between CP/MAS 13C-NMR and pyrolysis-GC/MS in the structural characterization of humins and humic acids of soil and sediments. Fresenius J Anal Chem 362:299–306

    Google Scholar 

  • Faria SR, De la Rosa JM, Knicker H, Gonzalez-Perez JA, Keizer JJ (2015) Molecular characterization of wildfire impacts on organic matter in eroded sediments and topsoil in Mediterranean eucalypt stands. CATENA 135:29–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Fellman JB, Hood E, Spencer RGM (2010) Fluorescence spectroscopy opens new windows into dissolved organic matter dynamics in freshwater ecosystems: a review. Limnol Oceanogr 55:2452–2462

    Google Scholar 

  • Garcia-Palacios P, Shaw EA, Wall DH, Hattenschwiler S (2016) Temporal dynamics of biotic and abiotic drivers of litter decomposition. Ecol Lett 19:554–563

    Google Scholar 

  • Ge X, Zeng L, Xiao W, Huang Z, Geng X, Tan B (2013) Effect of litter substrate quality and soil nutrients on forest litter decomposition: a review. Acta Ecol Sin 33:102–108

    Google Scholar 

  • Gonzalez-Perez JA, Almendros G, de la Rosa JM, Gonzalez-Vila FJ (2014) Appraisal of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in environmental matrices by analytical pyrolysis (Py-GC/MS). J Anal Appl Pyrol 109:1–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Guo L, Lu MM, Li QQ, Zhang JW, Zong Y, She ZL (2014) Three-dimensional fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (EEM) spectroscopy with regional integration analysis for assessing waste sludge hydrolysis treated with multi-enzyme and thermophilic bacteria. Bioresource Technol 171:22–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansen AM, Kraus TEC, Pellerin BA, Fleck JA, Downing BD, Bergamaschi BA (2016) Optical properties of dissolved organic matter (DOM): effects of biological and photolytic degradation. Limnol Oceanogr 61:1015–1032

    Google Scholar 

  • Helms JR, Stubbins A, Ritchie JD, Minor EC, Kieber DJ, Mopper K (2008) Absorption spectral slopes and slope ratios as indicators of molecular weight, source, and photobleaching of chromophoric dissolved organic matter. Limnol Oceanogr 53:955–969

    Google Scholar 

  • Jia X, Zhu CW, Li MX, Xi BD, Wang LJ, Yang X, Xia XF, Su J (2013) A comparison of treatment techniques to enhance fermentative hydrogen production from piggery anaerobic digested residues. Int J Hydrogen Energ 38:8691–8698

    Google Scholar 

  • Jian QY, Boyer TH, Yang XH, Xia BC, Yang X (2016) Characteristics and DBP formation of dissolved organic matter from leachates of fresh and aged leaf litter. Chemosphere 152:335–344

    Google Scholar 

  • Jimenez-Morillo NT, de la Rosa JM, Waggoner D, Almendros G, Gonzalez-Vila FJ, Gonzalez-Perez JA (2016) Fire effects in the molecular structure of soil organic matter fractions under Quercus suber cover. CATENA 145:266–273

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaal J, Cortizas AM, Reyes O, Solino M (2012) Molecular characterization of Ulex europaeus biochar obtained from laboratory heat treatment experiments—a pyrolysis-GC/MS study. J Anal Appl Pyrol 95:205–212

    Google Scholar 

  • Kalbitz K, Kaiser K, Bargholz J, Dardenne P (2006) Lignin degradation controls the production of dissolved organic matter in decomposing foliar litter. Eur J Soil Sci 57:504–516

    Google Scholar 

  • Keiluweit M, Nico P, Harmon ME, Mao JD, Pett-Ridge J, Kleber M (2015) Long-term litter decomposition controlled by manganese redox cycling. P Natl Acad Sci USA 112:E5253–E5260

    Google Scholar 

  • Klotzbucher T, Kaiser K, Filley TR, Kalbitz K (2013) Processes controlling the production of aromatic water-soluble organic matter during litter decomposition. Soil Biol Biochem 67:133–139

    Google Scholar 

  • Kutsch WL, Bahn M, Heinemeyer A (2010) Soil carbon dynamics: an integrated methodology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Lavonen EE, Kothawala DN, Tranvik LJ, Gonsior M, Schmitt-Kopplin P, Kohler SJ (2015) Tracking changes in the optical properties and molecular composition of dissolved organic matter during drinking water production. Water Res 85:286–294

    Google Scholar 

  • Li T, Ye Y (2014) Dynamics of decomposition and nutrient release of leaf litter in Kandelia obovata mangrove forests with different ages in Jiulongjiang Estuary, China. Ecol Eng 73:454–460

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu D, Keiblinger IM, Leitner S, Mentler A, Zechmeister-Boltenstem S (2016) Is there a convergence of deciduous leaf litter stoichiometry, biochemistry and microbial population during decay? Geoderma 272:93–100

    Google Scholar 

  • Manzoni S, Jackson RB, Trofymow JA, Porporato A (2008) The global stoichiometry of litter nitrogen mineralization. Science 321:684–686

    Google Scholar 

  • Marschner P, Umar S, Baumann K (2011) The microbial community composition changes rapidly in the early stages of decomposition of wheat residue. Soil Biol Biochem 43:445–451

    Google Scholar 

  • McDonald JH (2009) Handbook of biological statistics. Sparky House Publishing, Baltimore

    Google Scholar 

  • Murphy KR, Butler KD, Spencer RGM, Stedmon CA, Boehme JR, Aiken GR (2010) Measurement of dissolved organic matter fluorescence in aquatic environments: an interlaboratory comparison. Environ Sci Technol 44:9405–9412

    Google Scholar 

  • Ohno T (2002) Fluorescence inner-filtering correction for determining the humification index of dissolved organic matter. Environ Sci Technol 36:742–746

    Google Scholar 

  • Ozalp M, Conner WH, Lockaby BG (2007) Above-ground productivity and litter decomposition in a tidal freshwater forested wetland on Bull Island, SC, USA. Forest Ecol Manag 245:31–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Perez-Suarez M, Arredondo-Moreno JT, Huber-Sannwald E (2012) Early stage of single and mixed leaf-litter decomposition in semiarid forest pine-oak: the role of rainfall and microsite. Biogeochemistry 108:245–258

    Google Scholar 

  • Peuravuori J, Pihlaja K (1997) Molecular size distribution and spectroscopic properties of aquatic humic substances. Anal Chim Acta 337:133–149

    Google Scholar 

  • Prescott CE (2010) Litter decomposition: what controls it and how can we alter it to sequester more carbon in forest soils? Biogeochemistry 101:133–149

    Google Scholar 

  • Ranjbar F, Jalali M (2012) Calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium release during decomposition of some organic residues. Commun Soil Sci Plan 43:645–659

    Google Scholar 

  • Ricker MC, Lockaby BG, Blosser GD, Conner WH (2016) Rapid wood decay and nutrient mineralization in an old-growth bottomland hardwood forest. Biogeochemistry 127:323–338

    Google Scholar 

  • Schellekens J, Almeida-Santos T, Macedo RS, Buurman P, Kuyper TW, Vidal-Torrado P (2017) Molecular composition of several soil organic matter fractions from anthropogenic black soils (Terra Preta de Indio) in Amazonia—a pyrolysis-GC/MS study. Geoderma 288:154–165

    Google Scholar 

  • Shen DK, Gu S, Luo KH, Wang SR, Fang MX (2010) The pyrolytic degradation of wood-derived lignin from pulping process. Bioresource Technol 101:6136–6146

    Google Scholar 

  • Smits MM, Carleer R, Colpaert JV (2016) PYQUAN: a rapid workflow around the AMDIS deconvolution software for high throughput analysis of pyrolysis GC/MS data. J Anal Appl Pyrol 118:335–342

    Google Scholar 

  • Tanikawa T, Fujii S, Sun LJ, Hirano Y, Matsuda Y, Miyatani K, Doi R, Mizoguchi T, Maie N (2018) Leachate from fine root litter is more acidic than leaf litter leachate: a 2.5-year laboratory incubation. Sci Total Environ 645:179–191

    Google Scholar 

  • Wymore AS, Compson ZG, McDowell WH, Potter JD, Hungate BA, Whitham TG, Marks JC (2015) Leaf-litter leachate is distinct in optical properties and bioavailability to stream heterotrophs. Freshw Sci 34:857–866

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang LS, Zhang SH, Lv XY, Qiu Z, Zhang ZQ, Yan LY (2018) Dissolved organic matter release in overlying water and bacterial community shifts in biofilm during the decomposition of Myriophyllum verticillatum. Sci Total Environ 633:929–937

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhou J, Wang JJ, Baudon A, Chow AT (2013) Improved fluorescence excitation-emission matrix regional integration to quantify spectra for fluorescent dissolved organic matter. J Environ Qual 42:925–930

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The project was financially supported by the National Science Foundation with Award Number 1529927, U.S Geological Survey Grant/Cooperative Agreement Number G10 AC00157, and NIFA/USDA with project numbers SC-1700517 and SC-1700531.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Huan Chen and Xijun Liu contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Baruch Institute of Coastal Ecology and Forest Science, Clemson University, Georgetown, SC, 29442, USA

    Huan Chen, Gavin D. Blosser, William H. Conner & Alex T. Chow

  2. Key Lab of Silviculture, School of Forestry and Landscape Architecture, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui, China

    Xijun Liu

  3. Department of Biogeochemical Processes, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, 07745, Jena, Germany

    Alexander Martin Rücker

  4. Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Science, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, 29634, USA

    Alex T. Chow

  5. Biogeochemistry & Environmental Quality Research Group, Clemson University, PO Box 596, Georgetown, SC, 29442, USA

    Alex T. Chow

Authors
  1. Huan Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Xijun Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Gavin D. Blosser
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Alexander Martin Rücker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. William H. Conner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Alex T. Chow
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alex T. Chow.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: Myrna Simpson.

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (DOCX 1128 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Chen, H., Liu, X., Blosser, G.D. et al. Molecular dynamics of foliar litter and dissolved organic matter during the decomposition process. Biogeochemistry 150, 17–30 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-020-00684-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-020-00684-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation