Comparison of Chemical Traits between Drought-dead and Natural Litter Leaves

Abstract:

To understand the difference in chemical properties between drought-dead and natural litter leaves, the chemistry traits in leaves of five species in Yuanjiang Savanna Ecosystem Research Station, such as Bauhinia brachycarpa, Tarenna depauperate, Cipadessa baccifera, Polyalthia cerasoides and Rubus pungens, were studied. The results showed that the chemical characteristics of carbon and nutrients had great variation between drought-dead and natural litter leaves, and there were very significant differences among these tree species (P<0.001). Compared with natural litter leaves, drought-dead leaves had high dissolved organic carbon, C/N and magnesium, but the concentration of lignin, hemicellulose and nitrogen was low. Furthermore, the chemical traits of drought-dead leaves had positive correlation with nature litter leaves, such as the concentration of carbon (R²=0.56,P<0.01), cellulose (R²=0.52, P<0.01), hemicellulose (R²=0.85, P<0.001), tannin (R²=0.99,P<0.001), lignin/N (R²=0.60,P<0.01), C/N (R²=0.64,P<0.001) and nitrogen (R²=0.85, P<0.001). Therefore, according to the chemical properties of natural litters, the chemical properties of drought-dead leaves under extreme drought conditions could be predicted in the future.