Authors: Jorge HoyosSantillan Barry H Lomax David Large Benjamin L Turner Arnoud Boom Omar R Lopez Sofie Sjögersten
Publish Date: 2015/11/09
Volume: 126, Issue: 1-2, Pages: 115-129
Abstract
Litter decomposition is an important control on carbon accumulation in tropical peatlands We investigated the contribution of different litter tissues from two peatland tree species Raphia taedigera and Campnosperma panamensis to peat formation in four lowland tropical peatlands in the Republic of Panama Leaves stems and roots decomposed at different rates with roots being the slowest to decompose among tissues The position of litter in the peat profile strongly influenced the decomposition rate of all tissue types Roots decomposed up to five times faster at the surface than at 50 cm depth Molecular characterization of litter and peat profiles by tetramethylammoniumpyrolysis–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry TMAHPyGC/MS revealed that the peat is formed predominantly of decomposed roots and stems as indicated by the high lignin low methylated fatty acids and carbohydrate concentrations in these litter types Taken together these data demonstrate that roots play a fundamental role in the formation of lowland Neotropical peatlandsData to support this article can be made available upon request Jorge HoyosSantillan thanks The National Council on Science and Technology CONACyTMexico for his PhD scholarship 211962 The authors also thank the Light Hawk program for its support in the aerial surveys We thank Erick Brown for invaluable help as field assistant as well as Gabriel Jácome Plinio Góndola Tania Romero and Dayana Agudo for logistical support and laboratory assistance at the STRI In addition we thank John Corrie and Darren Hepworth for their help in logistics and laboratory assistance at the University of Nottingham
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