Abstract
About 95% of the annual net primary production of mature Coweeta forests is directly transferred to the detrital food web as foliar litter and woody debris. The decomposition of these plant substrates and the release of elements contained within the litter are necessary for the continued productivity of the forests. Most of the chemical energy released during decomposition is processed by bacteria and fungi; however, interactions with a host of invertebrates (primarily protozoans, nematodes, annelids, and arthropods) are responsible for the patterns of nutrient immobilization and mineralization observed in litter and soil.
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© 1988 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
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Seastedt, T.R., Crossley, D.A. (1988). Soil Arthropods and Their Role in Decomposition and Mineralization Processes. In: Swank, W.T., Crossley, D.A. (eds) Forest Hydrology and Ecology at Coweeta. Ecological Studies, vol 66. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3732-7_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3732-7_17
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-8324-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-3732-7
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