COMPARISON OF MAJOR NUTRIENT RELEASE PATTERNS IN LEAF LITTER DECOMPOSITION IN WARM TEMPERATE ZONE OF CHINA
暖温带地区主要树种叶片凋落物分解过程中主要元素释放的比较

Decomposition of leaf litter in temperate forest was examined using the litter bag method during a one year period.Decomposition rates and the release dynamics of ten nutrients(C,N,P,Ca,Mg,Fe,Cu,Mn,K and Na)in leaves of four locally dominant species, Quercus liaotungensis,Acer mono,Tilia mongolica and T.mandshurica were measured. Litter mass loss processes were simulated using Olson's exponential model and the consequent decay rates of the four species' leaf litters (annual mass loss)decreased in the order of Acer mono>T. mandshurica>T.mongolica>Quercus liaotungensis. Varying degrees of accumulation of six elements(N,P,Na,Fe,Cu and Mn) were found in all four species' litter residues.C and K content monotonically decreased markedly while other nutrients showed no regular pattern.That release rates were strongly influenced by initial nutrient contents,indicates that nutrients did not begin biological release until their content ratio rose to a certain extent under immobilization by microorganisms.High lignin content in leaf litter inhibited the mineralization of organics in most cases, despite a relatively minor effect during early decomposition stage.