Litter decomposition rate and soil organic matter quality in a patchwork heathland of southern Norway

Certini, G.; Vestgarden, L. S.; Forte, C.; Tau Strand, L.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-207-2015

Articles | Volume 1, issue 1

https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-207-2015

© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-207-2015

© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Articles | Volume 1, issue 1

Original research article

|

23 Feb 2015

Original research article |

| 23 Feb 2015

Litter decomposition rate and soil organic matter quality in a patchwork heathland of southern Norway

G. Certini, L. S. Vestgarden, C. Forte, and L. Tau Strand

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Final revised paper (published on 23 Feb 2015)
Preprint (discussion started on 15 Jul 2014)

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment

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- Supplement

RC C50: 'Litter decomposition rate and soil organic matter quality in a patchwork heathland of Southern Norway.', Anonymous Referee #1, 06 Aug 2014
- AC C128: 'Replies to Referee #1', Giacomo Certini, 20 Oct 2014
RC C73: 'Interactive comment on "Litter decomposition rate and soil organic matter quality in a patchwork heathland of Southern Norway" by G. Certini et al.', Anonymous Referee #2, 14 Aug 2014
- AC C134: 'Replies to Referee #2', Giacomo Certini, 20 Oct 2014
SC C81: 'Citation USDA ST', Antonio Jordán, 21 Aug 2014
- AC C139: 'Reply to Antonio Jordàn', Giacomo Certini, 20 Oct 2014
RC C86: 'comment on SOILD-2014-13', Anonymous Referee #3, 30 Aug 2014
- AC C140: 'Replies to Referee #3', Giacomo Certini, 20 Oct 2014

Peer-review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision

ED: Revision (10 Nov 2014) by Asmeret Asefaw Berhe

AR by Giacomo Certini on behalf of the Authors (23 Jan 2015) Author's response Manuscript

ED: Publish as is (09 Feb 2015) by Asmeret Asefaw Berhe

ED: Publish as is (09 Feb 2015) by Johan Six (Executive editor)

AR by Giacomo Certini on behalf of the Authors (10 Feb 2015)

Short summary

We studied a heathland area of Norway consisting in a patchwork of Calluna, Molinia or Sphagnum. Such vegetation covers are associated with microtopographic differences, which in turn impose different soil moisture regimes. We found that litter decomposition rate and SOM composition depend much on vegetation cover. Hence, here, monitoring variations in the patchwork of vegetation seems a reliable, cost-effective way to detect climate change induced modifications to SOM and its potential to last.