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Plant Litter

Decomposition, Humus Formation, Carbon Sequestration

  • Book
  • Dec 2007

Overview

Authors:
  1. Björn Berg

    1. Dipartimento Biologia Strutturale e Funzionale, Complesso Universitario Monte San Angelo, Napoli, Italy
      Department of Forest Ecology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

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    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  2. Charles McClaugherty

    1. Department of Biology, Mount Union College, Alliance, USA

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    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • Fully revised and updated
  • Includes the latest research findings

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Table of contents (13 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiii
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  2. Introduction

    Pages 1-10

  3. Decomposition as a Process

    Pages 11-33

  4. Decomposer Organisms

    Pages 35-52

  5. Initial Litter Chemical Composition

    Pages 53-83

  6. Changes in Substrate Composition During Decomposition

    Pages 85-113

  7. Chemical Constituents as Rate-Regulating: Initial Variation and Changes During Decomposition

    Pages 115-148

  8. Climatic Environment

    Pages 149-173

  9. Influence of Soil and Plant Community Factors

    Pages 175-192

  10. Decomposition of Fine Root and Woody Litter

    Pages 193-209

  11. Models that Describe Litter Decomposition

    Pages 211-223

  12. Decomposition and Ecosystem Function

    Pages 225-257

  13. Human Activities that Infl uence Decomposition

    Pages 259-267

  14. Estimating Carbon Sequestration Rates on a Regional Scale

    Pages 269-298

  15. Back Matter

    Pages 299-338
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Keywords

About this book

When starting our work on this book, we intended to summarize and synthesize the new information that had developed in the last 20–30 years in the field of plant l- ter decomposition. It turned out, however, that the main part of more recent work was directed toward boreal and temperate forest systems, and therefore with a focus on these ecosystems, we finally concluded a synthesis that has a similarity to a case study. Still, we hope that a deeper insight into the behavior of a limited number of litter species will be of value for a generalization, and also for the identification of process systems that deviate from those presented here. We have written the book focusing on the transfer from newly shed litter to recalcitrant humus, describing and explaining the system of chemical changes taking place in the process both on a mechanistic basis, and on a more general and regional level, considering different climates and species. As a synthesis, this book gives some new aspects on decomposition that to some of us may be controversial. Thus, the fact that we emphasize the dominant role of microorganisms in the process may not appeal to some readers, as well as the strong emphasis we give to the fact that humus layers actually do grow over millennia, and that at a considerable rate, and thus really sequester, e.g., C and N. This book is based primarily on data and conclusions made from field studies.

Reviews

From the reviews:

"The authors of the volume ‘Plant Litter’ present an up-to-date and interesting contribution … . The book is well arranged, relatively easy to read, contains fantastic graphics … . this fundamental and rather detailed book is an absolutely necessary resource about transformation and decomposition of plant litter ... . In summary, we strongly recommend this book for all scientists concerned with … plant litter … . The authors can be congratulated for their impressive efforts in publishing this highly professional volume." (Oliver Bens, Reinhard F. Hüttl, Journal of Plant Physiology, Vol. 161, 2004)

"The work of Berg and Mc Claugerthy resumes the state of the art concerning litter decomposition mainly in boreal forests but also in a few temperate situations. … this book is a remarkable synthesis of the current knowledge about the decomposition of plant residues in forest ecosystems. … This book is well structured and gives a comprehensive overview about the process of litter decompositions and it is a well written synthesis of the enormous work done by B.Berg during the last two decades." (Bernd Zeller, Annals of Forest Science, Issue 2, 2004)

Authors and Affiliations

  • Dipartimento Biologia Strutturale e Funzionale, Complesso Universitario Monte San Angelo, Napoli, Italy

    Björn Berg

  • Department of Forest Ecology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Björn Berg

  • Department of Biology, Mount Union College, Alliance, USA

    Charles McClaugherty

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