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A new conceptual model on the fate and controls of fresh and pyrolized plant litter decomposition

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Abstract

In recent years, litter decomposition studies have begun to move beyond the concept of mass loss to consider the fate of fresh and pyrolized decomposing plant material in the ecosystem. However, these concepts have yet to be incorporated into conceptual models of litter decomposition. Understanding how fresh and pyrolized plant litter chemical traits control the partitioning of mass loss to dissolved organic carbon (DOC) leaching and respiration to CO2 would help to inform models of litter-soil-atmosphere carbon (C) cycling. To test these controls, we incubated five fresh and one pyrolized leaf litters with differing chemistry and measured DOC and CO2 fluxes as well as changes in substrate and dissolved organic matter (DOM) chemistry over time using Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy and wet chemistry. We found that the amount of hot water extractable C was a strong predictor of initial DOC leaching, while the lignocellulose index [Lignin/(Lignin + α-Cellulose)] was a strong inverse predictor of later stage DOC:CO2 partitioning. Changes in substrate and DOM chemistry indicated a progression of substrate availability for leaching: from soluble plant components, to partially decomposed cellulose and lignin, to microbial products. Based on these results we developed a new conceptual model that demonstrates how chemical traits of fresh and pyrolyzed plant litter can be used to predict the fate of aboveground organic matter decomposition and form a better linkage between aboveground decomposition and terrestrial ecosystem C cycling.

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Acknowledgments

This work would not have been possible without help from D. Rutherford at USGS, C. Rhodes and D. Pierson at USFS, K. Guilbert, D. Reuss, C. Pinney, J. Botte, and M. Jurich at Ecocore. The work was funded by the NSF-DEB grant #0918482, the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program and the NSF Research Experience for Teacher program. The analytical work was carried out at the EcoCore analytical services facility at Colorado State University (http://ecocore.nrel.colostate.edu/).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, USA

    Jennifer L. Soong, William J Parton, Eleanor E. Campbell & M. Francesca Cotrufo

  2. Central Great Plains Research Station, USDA-ARS, Akron, USA

    Francisco Calderon

  3. Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, USA

    M. Francesca Cotrufo

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  1. Jennifer L. Soong
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  2. William J Parton
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  3. Francisco Calderon
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  4. Eleanor E. Campbell
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  5. M. Francesca Cotrufo
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Correspondence to Jennifer L. Soong.

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Responsible Editor: Asmeret Asefaw Berhe.

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Soong, J.L., Parton, W.J., Calderon, F. et al. A new conceptual model on the fate and controls of fresh and pyrolized plant litter decomposition. Biogeochemistry 124, 27–44 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-015-0079-2

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