Nutrient and microbial characteristics of mountain stream fine benthic organic matter in the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, 1995 to 1996

Numerous studies have examined qualitative shifts in leaf litter composition in the early to middle stages of decomposition. (Suberkropp, Godshalk and Klug 1976, Petersen and Cummins 1974, Findlay and Arsuffi 1989) which have shown that changes in leaf species and composition lead to marked differences in microbial processing rates (Suberkropp and Klug 1976) and that leaf and woody debris decomposition rates are related to both litter C:N and extracellular enzyme activities (Taylor et al. 1989, Sinsabaugh et al. 1992, Sinsabaugh and Linkins 1993). Since most organic matter moves through streams as fine particulate organic matter (FPOM) (Sinsabaugh et al. 1992) it is a potentially important link between terrestrial and aquatic environments. Although there is increasing interest in understanding FPOM dynamics, there have been few studies of factors influencing stream sediment FBOM chemical or microbial characteristics.