Assessment of Home-Field Advantage (HFA) of Litter Decomposition in Beech and Alder Sites and in Norway Spruce Plantation of Lajim Region

The decomposition of leaf litter has important in the ecosystem level through regulating buildup of soil organic matter, regulating of nutrient for plant growth and influencing the flux of Co2 from the soil. Several studies have introduced Home-field advantage (HFA) as an index for indicating more rapidly decomposition process of litter in its own site. In the present study, beech and alder sites and Norway spruce plantation of lajim region were selected for testing the hypothesis that decomposition of litter in its own sites is happening more rapidly. Decomposition process was treated for 400 days using litterbag technique. The findings of this study showed that decomposition process to 180 days, the index significantly was negative (-12.96) for beech and alder in their sites but with passing time and simultaneously enhancement of soil biota activity, it was positively increased (27.36). Whereas this index was initially positive for beech and Norway spruce (54.67) and also for alder and Norway spruce (34.58). Then reached at maximum rate after 180 days. The obtained results confirmed that the decomposition process of litter was more rapidly in its own site. Therefore according to the role and importance of Home-field advantage, we can propose Norway spruce in mixed plantations of beech.