A field study was conducted in a nutrient-impacted marsh in Water Conservation Area 2A (WCA-2A) of the Everglades in southern Florida, USA, to evaluate early stages of plant litter (detritus) decomposition along a well-documented trophic gradient, and to determine the relative importance of environmental factors and substrate composition in governing decomposition rate. Vertically stratified de...

Decomposition of plant residues is largely mediated by soil-dwelling microorganisms whose activities are influenced by both climate conditions and properties of the soil. However, a comprehensive understanding of their relative importance remains elusive, mainly because traditional methods, such as soil incubation and environmental surveys, have a limited ability to differentiate between the co...

it seems that the presence of soil organic matter (som) increases p availability to plants. this effect has commonly been ascribed as competition between the decomposition products of som and p for soil sorption sites resulting in p concentrations increase of soil solution. this study was carried out to obtain information about soil organic matter (som) influence on kinetics and thermodynamics ...

While it is well known that soil moisture directly affects microbial activity and soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition, it is unclear if the presence of plants alters these effects through rhizosphere processes. We studied soil moisture effects on SOM decomposition with and without sunflower and soybean. Plants were grown in two different soil types with soil moisture contents of 45% and 85%...

Harvesting green sugarcane with chopper harvesters results in up to 24 Mg/ha of post-harvest residue. Soil microorganisms can decompose residues and offer numerous ecological and economical benefits to growers; however, the process is dependent on the biotic density, diversity and activity in the soil. Further, the decomposition process is unfavourably slow such that sugar yields are adversely ...