Litter decomposition in canopy gradient plots at the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory in 1998

Decomposition is frequently measured using litter bags containing known amounts of litter. A set of litter bags can be sampled over time and the weight loss which is measured serves as an index of decomposition. By measuring litter breakdown rate (decomposition) of the same species of litter along the elevation gradient, we could measure variation among the different elevations due to our treatments and elevation effects. Treatments used on quadrat boxes include frass additions (boxes 3,8,13,18,23), thrufall additions (boxes 4,9,14,19,24), controls (boxes 5,10,15,20,25), greenfall exclusion (boxes 2,7,12,17,22) and litterfall exclusion (boxes 1,6,11,16,21).