DECOMPOSITION OF THE LEAVES OF SOME FOREST TREES UNDER FIELD CONDITIONS

Abstract

Leaves of sugar maple, hickory, white and black oak, red pine and a mixture of the red pine and oak were enclosed in wire baskets, placed in the forest and their decomposition studied over a period of 7 1/2 yrs. The maple and hickory leaves decomposed much faster than the others. At the end of the period mostly petioles and the larger veins were all that was left of the oaks. The pine-oak mixtures decomposed more rapidly than the individual components when alone.