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Analysing temperature response of decomposition of organic matter
Author(s) -
Hyvönen Riitta,
Ågren Göran I.,
Dalias Panagiotis
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
global change biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.146
H-Index - 255
eISSN - 1365-2486
pISSN - 1354-1013
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2005.00947.x
Subject(s) - decomposer , decomposition , arrhenius equation , organic matter , soil organic matter , environmental chemistry , chemistry , soil science , environmental science , mineralogy , ecology , ecosystem , soil water , organic chemistry , activation energy , biology
In order to analyse temperature effects on decomposition of organic matter, we tested the following hypothesis: Can an Arrhenius type of equation with constant parameter values for the temperature response of decomposer growth rate adequately describe decomposition of organic matter or must some additional properties be made functions of temperature? Possible temperature effects were analysed by aggregating data in different ways from an experiment with 14 C‐labelled wheat material incubated in the laboratory at different temperatures and with soil materials collected from seven coniferous forest stands in Europe. Our analysis shows that it is possible to let all the temperature dependence reside in the decomposer growth rate. The analysis also supports the use of an Arrhenius type of equation for the temperature response of decomposer growth rate but with the parameters specific for each soil, or at least a distinction between organic and mineral horizons seems necessary.