Effects of initial leaching for estimates of mass loss and microbial decomposition—Call for an increased nuance
Abstract Decomposition is essential to carbon, nutrient, and energy cycling among and within ecosystems. Several methods have been proposed for studying litter decomposition by using a standardized and commercially available substrate. One of these methods is the Tea Bag Index (TBI) which uses tea b...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2022-08-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9118 |
| _version_ | 1811316330655121408 |
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| author | Lovisa Lind Andrew Harbicht Eva Bergman Johannes Edwartz Rolf Lutz Eckstein |
| author_facet | Lovisa Lind Andrew Harbicht Eva Bergman Johannes Edwartz Rolf Lutz Eckstein |
| author_sort | Lovisa Lind |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Decomposition is essential to carbon, nutrient, and energy cycling among and within ecosystems. Several methods have been proposed for studying litter decomposition by using a standardized and commercially available substrate. One of these methods is the Tea Bag Index (TBI) which uses tea bags (green and rooibos tea) incubated for ~90 days. The TBI is now applied all over the globe, but despite its usefulness and wide application, the TBI (as well as other methods) does not explicitly account for the differences in potential loss of litter mass due to initial leaching in habitats with large differences in moisture. We, therefore, studied the short‐term mass losses (3–4 h) due to initial leaching under field and laboratory conditions for green and rooibos tea using the TBI and contextualized our findings using existing long‐term mass loss (90 days) in the field for both aquatic and terrestrial environments. For both tea litter types, we found a fast initial leaching rate, which could be mistaken for decomposition through microbial activity. This initial leaching was higher than the hydrolyzable fraction given in the description of the TBI. We also found that leaching increased with increasing temperature and that leaching in terrestrial environments with high soil moisture (>90%) is almost as large as in aquatic environments. When comparing our findings to long‐term studies, we found that up to 30–50% of the mass loss of green tea reported as decomposition could be lost through leaching alone in high moisture environments (>90% soil moisture and submerged). Not accounting for such differences in initial leaching across habitats may lead to a systematic overestimation of the microbial decomposition in wet habitats. Future studies of microbial decomposition should adjust their methods depending on the habitat, and clearly specify the type of decomposition that the study focuses on. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T11:47:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4bd3e9f7a25f44028a4725cbb4929421 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T11:47:03Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj.art-4bd3e9f7a25f44028a4725cbb49294212022-12-22T02:48:09ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582022-08-01128n/an/a10.1002/ece3.9118Effects of initial leaching for estimates of mass loss and microbial decomposition—Call for an increased nuanceLovisa Lind0Andrew Harbicht1Eva Bergman2Johannes Edwartz3Rolf Lutz Eckstein4Department of Environmental and Life Sciences – Biology Karlstad University Karlstad SwedenDepartment of Environmental and Life Sciences – Biology Karlstad University Karlstad SwedenDepartment of Environmental and Life Sciences – Biology Karlstad University Karlstad SwedenDepartment of Environmental and Life Sciences – Biology Karlstad University Karlstad SwedenDepartment of Environmental and Life Sciences – Biology Karlstad University Karlstad SwedenAbstract Decomposition is essential to carbon, nutrient, and energy cycling among and within ecosystems. Several methods have been proposed for studying litter decomposition by using a standardized and commercially available substrate. One of these methods is the Tea Bag Index (TBI) which uses tea bags (green and rooibos tea) incubated for ~90 days. The TBI is now applied all over the globe, but despite its usefulness and wide application, the TBI (as well as other methods) does not explicitly account for the differences in potential loss of litter mass due to initial leaching in habitats with large differences in moisture. We, therefore, studied the short‐term mass losses (3–4 h) due to initial leaching under field and laboratory conditions for green and rooibos tea using the TBI and contextualized our findings using existing long‐term mass loss (90 days) in the field for both aquatic and terrestrial environments. For both tea litter types, we found a fast initial leaching rate, which could be mistaken for decomposition through microbial activity. This initial leaching was higher than the hydrolyzable fraction given in the description of the TBI. We also found that leaching increased with increasing temperature and that leaching in terrestrial environments with high soil moisture (>90%) is almost as large as in aquatic environments. When comparing our findings to long‐term studies, we found that up to 30–50% of the mass loss of green tea reported as decomposition could be lost through leaching alone in high moisture environments (>90% soil moisture and submerged). Not accounting for such differences in initial leaching across habitats may lead to a systematic overestimation of the microbial decomposition in wet habitats. Future studies of microbial decomposition should adjust their methods depending on the habitat, and clearly specify the type of decomposition that the study focuses on.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9118decompositionleachingmicrobialTea Bag Index |
| spellingShingle | Lovisa Lind Andrew Harbicht Eva Bergman Johannes Edwartz Rolf Lutz Eckstein Effects of initial leaching for estimates of mass loss and microbial decomposition—Call for an increased nuance Ecology and Evolution decomposition leaching microbial Tea Bag Index |
| title | Effects of initial leaching for estimates of mass loss and microbial decomposition—Call for an increased nuance |
| title_full | Effects of initial leaching for estimates of mass loss and microbial decomposition—Call for an increased nuance |
| title_fullStr | Effects of initial leaching for estimates of mass loss and microbial decomposition—Call for an increased nuance |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of initial leaching for estimates of mass loss and microbial decomposition—Call for an increased nuance |
| title_short | Effects of initial leaching for estimates of mass loss and microbial decomposition—Call for an increased nuance |
| title_sort | effects of initial leaching for estimates of mass loss and microbial decomposition call for an increased nuance |
| topic | decomposition leaching microbial Tea Bag Index |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9118 |
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