The influence of substrate quality and stream size on wood decomposition dynamics

Jerry M Melillo; Robert J Naiman; John D Aber; Keith N Eshleman

doi:10.1007/BF00385224

The influence of substrate quality and stream size on wood decomposition dynamics

Oecologia. 1983 Jun;58(3):281-285. doi: 10.1007/BF00385224.

Authors

Jerry M Melillo^{1

2

3

4}, Robert J Naiman^{1

2

3

4}, John D Aber^{1

2

3

4}, Keith N Eshleman^{1

2

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, 02543, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA.
² Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 02543, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA.
³ Department of Forestry, University of Wisconsin, 53703, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
⁴ Civil Engineering Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 02139, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

PMID: 28310323
DOI: 10.1007/BF00385224

Abstract

Woody materials decayed more rapidly in a first order stream than in larger streams in eastern Quebec, Canada. The rate of annual mass loss (k) was highest (k=1.20) for alder wood chips in a first order stream and lowest (k=0.04) for black spruce wood chips in a ninth order stream. Decay rates for woody materials in a first order stream were inversely related to their initial lignin to nitrogen ratios. In larger streams, decay rates of woody materials were inversely related to their initial lignin concentrations. A number of quantifiable relationships were found to exist between the initial lignin and nitrogen contents of woody materials and the nitrogen dynamics of decaying wood.