Branch Wood Decomposition of Tree Species in a Deciduous Temperate Forest in Korea
Department of Life Science, Chung-Ang University, Seoul 06974, Korea
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Academic Editor: Yowhan Son
Forests 2017, 8(5), 176; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8050176
Received: 11 April 2017
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Revised: 11 May 2017
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Accepted: 12 May 2017
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Published: 19 May 2017
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Coarse Woody Debris of Forests in a Changing World)
Woody debris, which is supplied by branch litter, is an important component of forest ecosystems as it contains large quantities of organic matter and nutrients. We evaluated changes in branch wood dry weight and nutrient content of six common species (Fraxinus rhynchophylla, Pinus densiflora, Prunus sargentii, Quercus mongolica, Acer pseudosieboldianum, and Symplocos chinensis for. pilosa) in a deciduous temperate forest in Korea for 40 months. Branch wood disk samples 1.4–1.6 cm thick were cut, and mass loss was measured over time using the litterbag method. No significant differences in mass loss were recorded among the six tree species. Further, mass loss was negatively correlated with initial lignin concentration and positively correlated with both initial cellulose concentration and wood density for each species. Species with high wood cellulose content had high wood density while the lignin content in wood was relatively low. Accordingly, cellulose contributed to wood density, creating a relatively lower lignin content, and the decreased lignin concentration increased the wood decomposition rate.
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Keywords:
branch wood; cellulose; decomposition; lignin; temperate forest
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MDPI and ACS Style
Cha, S.; Chae, H.-M.; Lee, S.-H.; Shim, J.-K. Branch Wood Decomposition of Tree Species in a Deciduous Temperate Forest in Korea. Forests 2017, 8, 176. https://doi.org/10.3390/f8050176
AMA Style
Cha S, Chae H-M, Lee S-H, Shim J-K. Branch Wood Decomposition of Tree Species in a Deciduous Temperate Forest in Korea. Forests. 2017; 8(5):176. https://doi.org/10.3390/f8050176
Chicago/Turabian StyleCha, Sangsub, Hee-Myung Chae, Sang-Hoon Lee, and Jae-Kuk Shim. 2017. "Branch Wood Decomposition of Tree Species in a Deciduous Temperate Forest in Korea" Forests 8, no. 5: 176. https://doi.org/10.3390/f8050176
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