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Microbial decomposition of leaf material at 0°C

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Abstract

The microbial decomposition of leaves (both fresh and autumnshed) at 0°C using stream sediment-water was investigated. The maximum rates of loss of leaf carbohydrate and protein at 0°C were considerable, being about 40% of those at 20°C. These rates were only slightly affected by the type of leaf material present being 1.3-fold higher with fresh leaves as compared with autumn-shed leaves. In addition, an epifluorescence microscopic counting technique was developed and utilized to enumerate the microbial populations colonizing the decomposing leaves. The average microbial densities on fresh and autumn-shed leaves after 35 days of incubation were 1.3 × 106 and 9.0 × 105 microorganisms cm−2 at 0°C as compared with 5.5 × 106 and 3.3 × 106 microorganisms cm−2 at 20°C, respectively. Antibacterial and antifungal antibiotics were used to estimate the comparative involvement of sediment bacteria and fungi in leaf degradation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, N2L 3G1, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

    T. -Y. Tarn, C. I. Mayfield & W. E. Inniss

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  1. T. -Y. Tarn
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  2. C. I. Mayfield
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  3. W. E. Inniss
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Tarn, T.Y., Mayfield, C.I. & Inniss, W.E. Microbial decomposition of leaf material at 0°C. Microb Ecol 9, 355–362 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02019024

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02019024

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