Methodological questions of organic matter decomposition in the soil of a protected sand grassland
Abstract
Organic matter decomposition was studied in a climate change field experiment. The decomposition of the two dominant grass species of open sand grasslands were measured with the minicontainer method, and the decomposition of a standard organic matter was measured using tea bag method. We aimed to answer the following questions: Do the two methods lead to similar results in estimating decomposition dynamics? Does the one month extreme drought affect decomposition rates? Do the decomposition rates differ between plant species (Festuca vaginata vs. Stipa borysthenica), plant
parts (shoot vs. root) and the soil depths (0-5 cm vs. 10-15 cm)? Based on the results of the first period of the experiment, 15.45% of the total organic matter was decomposed with the minicontainer method and 15.8% with the tea bag method. The drought treatment did not significantly affect decomposition rate, but plant species, plant part and soil depth had strong significant effects on the decomposition rate. The losses were greater for Festuca vaginata, for plant shoot and in deeper soil layer. Based on these results, both methods are sensitive enough to assess the decomposition dynamics in open sand grassland.
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