Effect of traditional road salts and beet-based alternatives on leaf litter decomposition

This dataset originates from an experiment conducted at the Notre Dame experimental Mesocosm facility to investigate the effects of traditional and alternative deicing treatments on leaf litter decomposition dynamics in freshwater ecosystems. We had 5 treatments: control, high beet-brine (+1.47 g beet brine/L), low beet-brine (+.147 g beet brine/L), high salt (+2.1 g Cl-/L), and low salt (=.21 g Cl-/L). For each treatment we had 4 replicates, totalling 20 mesocosms. We monitored dissolved inorganic nitrogen and carbon concentrations. We also monitored leaf litter respiration, toughness, and mass loss as indicators of decomposition. This dataset provides insight into how both chloride-based and organic deicing agents influence aquatic ecosystem processes, particularly the breakdown of organic matter, with implications for understanding the ecological trade-offs of emerging road salt alternatives.