Soil Litter - Collection and Analysis

Collection and Analysis

The main objectives of litterfall sampling and analysis are to quantify litterfall production and chemical composition over time in order to assess the variation in litterfall quantities, and hence its role in nutrient cycling across an environmental gradient of climate (moisture and temperature) and soil conditions.

Ecologists employ a simple approach to the collection of litterfall, most of which centers around once piece of equipment, known as a litterbag. A litterbag is simply any type of container that can be set out in any given area for a specified amount of time to collect the plant litter that falls from the canopy above.

Litterbags are generally set in random locations within a given area and marked with GPS or local coordinates, and then monitored on a specific time interval. Once the samples have been collected, they are usually classified on type, size and species (if possible) and recorded on a spreadsheet. When measuring bulk litterfall for an area, ecologists will weigh the dry contents of the litterbag. By this method litterfall flux can be defined as:

litterfall (kg m−2 yr−1) = total litter mass (kg) / litterbag area (m2)

The litterbag may also be used to study decomposition of the litter layer. By confining fresh litter in the mesh bags and placing them on the ground, an ecologist can monitor and collect the decay measurements of that litter. An exponential decay pattern has been produced by this type of experiment:, where is the initial leaf litter and is a constant fraction of detrital mass.

The mass-balance approach is also utilized in these experiments and suggests that the decomposition for a given amount of time should equal the input of litterfall for that same amount of time.

litterfall = k(detrital mass)