Aspen Bibliography

Litter decomposition following forest fire in northeastern Minnesota

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Journal of Applied Ecology

Volume

14

Issue

2

First Page

531

Last Page

538

Publication Date

1977

Abstract

Litter bags, containing aspen or aster leaf litter, were used to compare decomposition in areas that had burned and in adjacent unburned areas in forests in northeastern Minnesota. Bags were placed in the field in October 1971, 5 months after the fire, and again in October 1972 and October 1973. Bags were collected periodically until October 1974. There was no significant difference in the weight loss of litter bags between burned and unburned areas for bags placed on the same date. Differences in nutrient concentration of the litter were only statistically significant for bags placed in October 1971, but these differences were small. The order of net mobility from the decomposing leaves was K > Mg > Ca > P > N. Aster decomposed four times faster than did aspen, with a rate of 1·6% wk-1 of original weight, compared to 0·4% wk-1 for aspen.

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