The Study of litter decomposition process of Caucasian oak and Turkish pine using litterbag technique

The present study was aimed to measure the rate of litter decomposition and home field advantage in Pinus brutia. Ten and Quercus castanefolia monocultures in Darabkola- Mazandaran. Fresh fallen litters were collected from the forest floor of those stands and after drying in Lab (65°C) were placed into litterbags (2 mm mesh). Three categories of litterbag were prepared and located on the mineral soil surface after removal of organic layers. One pocket bags filled with pure leaf and needle litter (10 g), one pocket bags filled with mixed litter (5g needle and 5g leaf) and two pocket bags filled with mixed litter (10g leaf and 10 g needle in each pockets, separately but connected). During one year incubation period, litterbags were collected from the field after 2, 4, 6, 8 and 12 months. Results showed that, the annual average of decomposition rate for pure needle in pine stand (4.01) was lower than in oak stand (4.18) but for pure leaf in pine stand (4.60) was higher than oak stand (4.58). The decomposition rate of mixed litter (two pocket bags) in oak stand was higher than in pine stand. Measuring of home field advantage showed that, litter decomposition rates were increased in home stand after 180 days.