Abstract
Nitrogen fixation during litter decomposition was studied for 34 months using litterbags containing newly fallen litter of coniferous species Cryptomeria japonica and Pinus densiflora and that of deciduous species Quercus serrata. Litterbags were set in contact with the forest floor in a deciduous broad-leaved forest near the top of a slope and in a C. japonica stand at the middle of the slope at a watershed in eastern Japan. Nitrogen-fixing activity, estimated by acetylene reduction after 16 and 19 months of incubation, was 62.65–3.86 nmoles C2H4 h−1 g−1 DW in Cryptomeria litter, but only 1.07–0.09 in Pinus and 0.72–0.04 in Quercus. The rate of N increase in decomposing litter was highest in Cryptomeria. Fungal biomass in decomposing litter, estimated by ergosterol content, increased during the initial 16 months of incubation in Cryptomeria and Quercus, and during the initial 19 months of incubation in Pinus. The litter decomposition rate was highest in Cryptomeria among the three species, due to increased N content and fungal biomass in Cryptomeria litter. Thus, N increase in decomposing Cryptomeria litter affects the subsequent N dynamics and decomposition pattern.
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Acknowledgments
T.Y. thanks Dr. M. Hasegawa, Kiso Experimental Station, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (FFPRI) for advising on the procedures of the litterbag method, and Dr. H. Shigenaga, Kyushu Research Center, FFPRI, for assistance in analysis of ergosterol content. This research was financially supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (#18580156) from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japan, and by a Research Grant (#200003) from FFPRI, Japan.
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Yamanaka, T., Hirai, K., Aizawa, S. et al. Nitrogen-fixing activity in decomposing litter of three tree species at a watershed in eastern Japan. J For Res 16, 1–7 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10310-010-0201-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10310-010-0201-1