Effects of Water Content and Mesh Size on Tea Bag Decomposition
Effects of Water Content and Mesh Size on Tea Bag Decomposition
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DOI：
10.3390/ecologies2010010
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发表时间：
2021-03-01
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Sakai, Yoshimi
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Mori, Taiki;Aoyagi, Ryota;Sakai, Yoshimi
茶袋法为研究环境变量对标准凋落物分解的影响提供了一种可复制、标准化的方法，使有机物质分解速率的大范围比较成为可能。然而，仍然不确定茶袋对潮湿的反应是否代表了当地凋落物的分解。我们进行了培养实验，以检验土壤水分对茶包分解的影响是否在较高的水分含量时变得抑制，就像当地的落叶一样。此外，我们在日本的一个混交林和雪松种植园进行了实地研究，以比较两种垃圾袋网目尺寸：0.25 mm网目，以前主要茶袋制造商(立顿)使用的网目，以及网目尺寸小于0.25 mm的无纺布袋，目前由立顿生产。绿茶和Rooibos茶在水分含量较高时都表现出较高的分解速度，但在最高水分含量时分解受到抑制；这与我们基于田间观察的假设相反，但与当地凋落物的概念模型一致。尽管网目尺寸更细，但非织造茶袋并未显示出较低的腐解率。相反，在雪松人工林中，无纺布Rooibos茶袋的腐解率略高于0.25 mm网袋，这可能是由于减少了中型动物的捕食，非织造袋中分解垃圾的微生物数量更多。我们的发现为未来茶叶袋分解的研究提供了必要的信息。
The tea bag method provides a replicable and standardized method to study the effect of environmental variables on the decomposition of standard litter, which enables comparison of organic matter decomposition rates on a large scale. However, it remains uncertain whether tea bag decomposition in response to wetness is representative of that of local litters. We performed incubation experiments to examine whether the effect of soil water on tea bag decomposition becomes inhibitory at higher water contents, as is the case in local leaf litters. In addition, we performed field studies in a mixed forest and cedar plantation in Japan to compare two litter bag mesh sizes: 0.25-mm mesh, the size previously used by a major manufacturer of tea bags (Lipton), and nonwoven bags with mesh sizes finer than 0.25 mm, which are currently produced by Lipton. Both green tea and rooibos tea exhibited higher decomposition rates at higher water contents, but decomposition was inhibited at the highest water content; this was in contrast to our hypothesis based on a field observation but consistent with conceptual models of local litters. The nonwoven tea bags did not show lower decomposition rates, despite the finer mesh size. Rather, the nonwoven rooibos tea bags exhibited slightly higher decomposition rates than the 0.25-mm mesh bags in the cedar plantation, possibly due to a greater abundance of microorganisms that decompose litters in the nonwoven bags, due to the decrease in predation by mesofauna. Our findings provide essential information for future studies of tea bag decomposition.