Litter decomposition of emergent macrophytes in a floodplain marsh of the Lower Paraná River

The role of litter decomposition on organic matter accumulation and nutrient cycling was studied in a floodplain marsh of the Lower Paraná River by means of in situ litterbag experiments. The effect of waterborne nutrients on decomposition rates was studied through a laboratory litterbag experiment....

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Villar, Carlos A., de Cabo, Laura Isabel, Vaithiyanathan, Panchabi, Bonetto, Carlos Alberto
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2001
País:Argentina
Institución:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Repositorio:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/44169
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/11336/44169
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Decomposition
Organic Matter
Nutrients
Floodplain Marshes
Emergent Macrophytes
Paraná River
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
Descripción
Sumario:The role of litter decomposition on organic matter accumulation and nutrient cycling was studied in a floodplain marsh of the Lower Paraná River by means of in situ litterbag experiments. The effect of waterborne nutrients on decomposition rates was studied through a laboratory litterbag experiment. Litter decomposition was rather slow, remaining 40–50% of the initial mass after 2 years incubation. Similar decomposition rates were observed in laboratory and field experiments. Water fertilization did not significantly affect decomposition rates. Since organic matter production is faster than decomposition a net accumulation takes place in the upper layers of the marsh soil. N and P litter concentration increased during the decomposition experiment. Floodplain marshes represent effective sinks of nutrients through litter accumulation.