Articles | Volume 22, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-417-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-417-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
22 Jan 2025
Research article |
| 22 Jan 2025
| 22 Jan 2025
A synthesis of Sphagnum litterbag experiments: initial leaching losses bias decomposition rate estimates
Henning Teickner
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Ecohydrology & Biogeochemistry Group, Institute of Landscape Ecology, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany
Spatiotemporal Modelling Lab, Institute for Geoinformatics, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany
Edzer Pebesma
Spatiotemporal Modelling Lab, Institute for Geoinformatics, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany
Klaus-Holger Knorr
Ecohydrology & Biogeochemistry Group, Institute of Landscape Ecology, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany
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Short summary
Decomposition rates for Sphagnum mosses, the main peat-forming plants in northern peatlands, are often derived from litterbag experiments. Here, we estimate initial leaching losses from available Sphagnum litterbag experiments and analyze how decomposition rates are biased when initial leaching losses are ignored. Our analyses indicate that initial leaching losses range between 3 to 18 mass-% and that this may result in overestimated mass losses when extrapolated to several decades.
Decomposition rates for Sphagnum mosses, the main peat-forming plants in northern peatlands, are...
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