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Decomposition of Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile Leaf Blade and Rhizome in Terrestrial Conditions: Effect of Temperature and Substrate Fertility

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Abstract

Purpose

Posidonia oceanica litter debris accumulate in large quantities in coastal areas and pose a serious problem of negative economic impact on tourism activities. Here, we investigated the possibility of managing such residues by in situ decomposition using green leaves, brown litter, and rhizomes for 720 days at two temperatures (10 and 20 °C) alone or in the presence of nitrogen-rich soil or compost.

Methods

P. oceanica debris were characterized for remaining mass, carbon, nitrogen, sodium, cellulose, lignin content, and by 13C CPMAS NMR. Temperature sensitivity of litter decomposition was assessed by Q10 index.

Results

Nitrogen was highest in green leaves compared to brown litter and rhizomes, with C/N and lignin/N ratios highest in rhizomes. Lignin was higher in brown litter and rhizomes compared to green leaves. Sodium was highest in green leaves compared to brown litter and rhizomes. Data from 13C CPMAS NMR showed that O-alkyl-C predominated in all litter. Aromatic C regions were highest in rhizomes compared to green leaves and brown litter. Decomposition was slow in all debris, with mass loss never exceeding 46.59% after 720 days of incubation. Based on Q10 values, P. oceanica debris showed a limited temperature sensitivity to decomposition, and was highest for brown litter compared to green leaves and rhizomes.

Conclusion

Our two-year experiment showed that P. oceanica is highly resistant to microbial decomposition, and the presence of nitrogen-rich substrate does little to promote the process. Overall, in situ decomposition does not seem to be a suitable way to manage human-induced P. oceanica deposition under terrestrial conditions.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The 13C CPMAS NMR measurements were performed at the CERMANU-Interdepartmental Research Centre, University of Napoli Federico II. We thank the prof. Danilo Russo for the photographic material.

Funding

The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Federico II, Via Università 100, 80055, Portici, Italy

    Giuliano Bonanomi, Gaspare Cesarano, Giuseppina Iacomino, Alessia Cozzolino, Riccardo Motti & Mohamed Idbella

  2. Task Force On Microbiome Studies, University of Federico II, Naples, Italy

    Giuliano Bonanomi

  3. Laboratory of Biosciences, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques, Hassan II University, Casablanca, Morocco

    Mohamed Idbella

  4. Dipartimento di Agraria, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy

    Mohamed Idbella

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  1. Giuliano Bonanomi
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  4. Alessia Cozzolino
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. GB, MI, RM, and GC: material preparation and decomposition experiments were performed. GI, MI, and AC: data collection at the end of the experiment was performed. MI, GB and RM: Data analysis was performed. GB: The first draft of the manuscript was written and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Mohamed Idbella.

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Bonanomi, G., Cesarano, G., Iacomino, G. et al. Decomposition of Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile Leaf Blade and Rhizome in Terrestrial Conditions: Effect of Temperature and Substrate Fertility. Waste Biomass Valor 14, 1869–1878 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-022-01990-9

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