Mitchell, Edward

1999-5-2, Siegenthaler, Andy, Mitchell, Edward, Van der Heijden, Edvin, Buttler, Alexandre, Grosvernier, Philippe, Gobat, Jean-Michel, Visconti, Guido, Beniston, Martin, Iannorelli, Emilio D, Barba, Diego

A brief overview of an attempt to link the effect of elevated CO2 and nitrogen deposition on litter quality and decomposition in a Sphagnum peat bog is given. Litter of three common species (Eriophorum vaginatum, Polytrichum strictum and Sphagnum fallax) was collected from field plots after two years of pre-treatment in two parallel experiments: a) Elevated atmospheric CO2 experiment, b) mineral nitrogen fertilisation experiment. The litters were put into litterbags, leached and inserted into field plots for 3 months, where they decomposed under specific treatment. Distinction between effects of initial litter quality and decomposition on mass loss in the bioleaching and/or in field decomposition process could be tested using a particular set-up in which cross-effects of pre-treatment and treatment were considered.