Ocmulgee Lab: Leaf Litter Decomposition

After our lab, I decided to do some more digging about leaf litter decomposition! I looked up information from various sources online because I didn't have much prior knowledge about this subject.. but I do now!! :) I primarily used a website from professors at Sewanee (very legit) in case you were wondering, Dr. Rood! 
Decomposition of leaf litter is a large source of nutrients for forest ecosystems. As leaves are broken down by insect and microbial decomposer, organically-bound nutrients are released as free ions to the soil solution which are then avaiable for uptake by plants. 
In many forests, the major source for nutrients in trees is decomposition, or, the process carried out by insects, worms, bacteria, or fungi that converts dead organic matter into smaller or similar compounds. Products of decomposition include carbon dioxide, water, and inorganic ions like we learned about a few chapters ago (pretty cool). The rate at which decomposition happens depends on a variety of factors like soil, temperature, and what type of food the microbial decomposer eats. The first phase of decomposition is pretty rapid because molecules are easy to break down and are rich in soil. The second phase- the breakdown of lignin consists of breaking down larger molecules- so it is much slower. If we were to chart leaf litter decomposition, we would find ourselves with a mass loss curve that is similar to that of exponential decay due to the differences in speed. 
Leaf litter decomposition is measured using the liter bag technique. In this technique, a known amount of  leaf litter is placed into a mesh bag which is then inserted into the litter layer of the forest floor. Bags are then harvested and dried at certain times and reweighed to determine the amount of mass lost.