Effects of soil management on decomposition in nine German vineyards in 2017

Litter decomposition was measured in nine experimental vineyards in Rhein-Hesse, Germany, during the growing season of 2017. Each vineyard exhibited four experimental plots with different soil management types (complete cover, herbal seed mixture cover, alternating tillage, and complete tillage).

To measure litter decomposition, an adaption of the Tea Bag Index method (Keuskamp et al. 2013) was used. In two adjacent inter-rows of each experimental plot, a set of 6 pairs of tea bags of the types of green tea and rooibos tea were buried. After incubation for about 90 days, the tea bags were recovered and the fractions of tea litter mass loss due to decomposition were measured. As response variables, the decomposed fractions of litter mass of green tea and rooibos tea are provided, which represent labile and recalcitrant plant material, respectively.