Root Chemistry

*We designed a study to examine the long-term spatial and temporal
patterns of mass loss, changes in nitrogen content and chemical
composition during decomposition of roots in a desert watershed.
Because nitrogen availability has been hypothesized to affect
decomposition rates of buried litter in deserts, we studied
decomposition of roots along a transect on a desert watershed that
had been fertilized with ammonium nitrate and compared these results
with the decomposition of roots along a transect that had not been
fertilized.