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The effects of open‐air fumigation with sulphur dioxide on the decomposition of sycamore ( Acer pseudoplatanus L.) leaf litters from polluted and unpolluted woodlands
Author(s) -
NEWSHAM K. K.,
INESON P.,
FRANKLAND J. C.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
plant, cell and environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.646
H-Index - 200
eISSN - 1365-3040
pISSN - 0140-7791
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3040.1995.tb00366.x
Subject(s) - fumigation , acer pseudoplatanus , decomposer , sulfur dioxide , botany , woodland , chemistry , decomposition , horticulture , agronomy , environmental chemistry , biology , ecology , ecosystem , inorganic chemistry
Sycamore ( Acer pseudoplatanus L. ) leaf litters from 15 woodlands exposed to a broad range of ambient sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ) concentrations were fumigated with environmentally realistic concentrations (ll‐20nmol mol −1 ) of SO 2 , for 166 d in an open‐air fumigation experiment. Fumigation of the sycamore litters significantly increased sulphate‐S and proton leaching, and decreased calcium, magnesium and potassium concentrations in leachates and leaf tissues. Leaf litters from relatively unpolluted woodlands showed a tendency to lose higher amounts of sulphate‐S, calcium, magnesium and nitrate‐N in leachates than litters from polluted sites when exposed to elevated levels of SO 2 in treatment plots. Fumigation inhibited the decomposition rates (CO 2 evolution) of the leaf litters. Marked changes in the composition of the saprotrophic fungal communities in SO 2 ‐fumigated leaf litters were also recorded, but fungal communities and responses to SO 2 , were similar between woodlands. There was no evidence from our data to suggest that resistance to SO 2 , was developed in decomposer mycofloras in woodlands more frequently polluted by the gas.