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Cumulative effects of nitrogen additions on litter decomposition in three tropical forests in southern China

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An Erratum to this article was published on 26 February 2009

An Erratum to this article was published on 26 February 2009

Abstract

A field-scale experiment with nitrogen (N) addition treatments was performed in three forest types – a pine (Pinus massoniana Lamb.) forest, a pine-broadleaf mixed forest (mixed) and a mature monsoon evergreen broadleaf forest (mature) – in tropical China. Two kinds of leaf litter, Schima superba Chardn. & Champ. and Castanopsis chinensis Hance, were studied using the litterbag technique after more than 2 years of continuous N additions. The objective of this study was to understand the cumulative effect of N addition on litter decomposition in the tropical forests and to determine if the initial effects of N addition changes over time. Results indicated that leaf litter decomposition was significantly faster in the mature forest than in the mixed or pine forests. The mean fraction of mass remaining after 12-months of decomposition was: mature (0.22) < mixed (0.50) < pine (0.51) for the two litters. Nitrogen addition significantly depressed litter decomposition in the pine forest and the mature forest, but had no significant effect in the mixed forest. These results suggest that N deposition has significant cumulative effect on litter decomposition.

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Acknowledgment

This research was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 30670392) and Key Project of Chinese Academy of Sciences Knowledge Innovation Program (KZCX2-YW-432, KSCX2-SW-133). Thanks are due to B. Berg for many helpful comments on this manuscript. We also thank two anonymous reviewers, whose comments and editing greatly improved this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. South China Botanical Garden, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dinghu, Zhaoqing, Guangdong, 526070, China

    Hua Fang, Jiangming Mo, Shaolin Peng, Zhian Li & Hui Wang

  2. Guangzhou Institute of Geography, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510070, China

    Hua Fang

  3. The Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Bei**g, 100039, China

    Hua Fang & Hui Wang

  4. School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, China

    Shaolin Peng

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  1. Hua Fang
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  2. Jiangming Mo
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  3. Shaolin Peng
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  4. Zhian Li
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  5. Hui Wang
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Correspondence to Jiangming Mo.

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Responsible Editor: Alfonso Escudero.

An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11104-009-9933-0

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Fang, H., Mo, J., Peng, S. et al. Cumulative effects of nitrogen additions on litter decomposition in three tropical forests in southern China. Plant Soil 297, 233–242 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-007-9339-9

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