The effects of the application of poultry litter at 0.0, 6.7, 13.4, and 20.1 tons/ha on population changes during the growing season on nematode communities were evaluated in two cotton production fields in North Carolina. Numbers of bactivorous nematodes increased at midseason in response to the rate at which litter was applied but decreased with increasing litter application rates at cotton h...

We examined how plant genetic variation and a common herbivore (the leaf-galling aphid, Pemphigus betae ) influenced leaf litter quality, decomposition, and nutrient dynamics in a dominant riparian tree (Populus spp.). Based on both observational studies and a herbivore exclusion experiment using trees of known genotype, we found four major patterns: 1) the quality of galled vs non-galled or ga...

Elevational gradients are increasingly recognized as a valuable tool for understanding how community and ecosystem properties respond to climatic factors, but little is known about how plant traits and their effects on ecosystem processes respond to elevation. We studied the response of plant leaf and litter traits, and litter decomposability across a gradient of elevation, and thus temperature...

nowadays green house gases such as carbon have the most effect on global climate changes that can be decreased by plant and soil carbon sequestration of rangelands. livestock grazing has high potential to decrease or increase carbon storage. so this research investigated the effects of enclosure on plant carbon storage in rangeland of enclosure (shah tappeh-chah mahmood) and no enclosure (chiro...

Heterotrophic bacteria and fungi are widely recognized as crucial mediators of carbon, nutrient, and energy flow in ecosystems, yet information on their total annual production in benthic habitats is lacking. To assess the significance of annual microbial production in a structurally complex system, we measured production rates of bacteria and fungi over an annual cycle in four aerobic habitats...

Ultraviolet-B (UV-B) exposure in the course of litter decomposition may have a direct effect on decomposition rates via changing states of photodegradation or decomposer constitution in litter while UV-B exposure during growth periods may alter chemical compositions and physical properties of plants. Consequently, these changes will indirectly affect subsequent litter decomposition processes in...

The aim of this research was to compare the amounts of existing mineral elements in plant aerial parts, litter and soil ofthree range species (Bromus tomentellus, Psathyrostachys fragilis, Agropyron tauri) in order to investigate the litter effectof species on soil properties of Taleghan rangeland. The measured mineral elements include carbon, nitrogen,phosphorous and potassium. After selection...

Inputs of aboveground plant litter influence the abundance and activities of belowground decomposer biota. Litter-mixing studies have examined whether the diversity and heterogeneity of litter inputs affect decomposer communities in ways that can be predicted frommonocultures. They have mainly attempted to detect non-additive effects of litter mixing, although individual species effects (additi...

Fine-scale spatial patterns of small mammal disturbances and local accumulation of plant litter were studied together with the spatial pattern of vegetation in different stages of old-field succession at Cedar Creek Natural History Area, Minnesota, USA. Seven stands from one to 66 years old were sampled. Presence of living plant species, local soil disturbances by pocket gophers (Geomys bursari...