1 research outputs found
Variation of leaf litter decomposition among rivers, lagoons and sea: an experiment from Corfu island (Greece)
In aquatic ecosystems, the decomposition of organic detritus represents one of the most important
ecosystem functions, which support complex detritus-based food webs that determine the critical balance
between carbon mineralization and sequestration. The performance of the decomposition process is usually
expressed as rate of decomposition, being a synthetic measure that take into account both abiotic and biotic
factors. Decomposition rates have been also applied to evaluate the ecological status in terms of ecological
functionality. However, despite a growing number of studies have tested the rate of decomposition between
leaves of different riparian tree species in different aquatic ecosystems including rivers, transitional waters
and sea, no comparative study among ecosystems typology is available up to date. Here, we compare
decomposition rates from rivers, lagoons and sea of Corfu island (Greece). Five sampling sites were fixed in
each of the three of the most important rivers and lagoons; other five sampling sites were fixed in the sea
around the island. Twelve leaf packs containing 3±0.005 g of oven-dried Phragmites australis leaves were
submerged in April 2014 and retrieved in May 2014 (after 30 days). Abiotic parameters were recorded in
both sampling times. The retrieved leaf packs were cleaned and the macroinvertebrates retained were
removed, counted, identified at lower taxonomic level and weighted. Leaf pack decomposition rates were
calculated, and their variability was compared within each aquatic ecosystem, within each ecosystem
typology (river, lagoon, sea) and among ecosystem typology. The results are going to be presented on the
poster