Aggregate mesquite litter chemistry following soil-litter mixing and decomposition in a semi-arid grassland from 2010-2012

The effect of vegetation structure on soil-litter mixing (SLM) and decomposition was explicitly tested in a litterbag experiment on a Chihuahuan Desert grassland site where vegetation cover was manipulated to simulate the progressive loss of grass cover accompanying livestock grazing and woody plant encroachment.  We hypothesized that (i) reductions in grass cover would destabilize soils and promote SLM, and (ii) that SLM would enhance microbial abundance and alter microbial community composition in ways that accelerate decomposition. To test our hypotheses, we quantified mass loss, and chemistry of litter incubated on sites with experimental reductions in grass cover (0 to 100% removals) over a 12-month period.  This dataset is of the percent carbon, percent nitrogen, and the carbon to nitrogen ratio.