Decomposition of Leaf Litter in Aquatic System
Name: Aisha Ali Ahmed Al-Khan ID:90165
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Introduction
Leaf litter is important for many organisms. It provides nesting materials, microhabitat for microorganism and provides protection. Bacteria, fungi and some invertebrates in the leaf litter benefit by feed on it and using them as shelters. Microorganisms play role in breaking leaf litter into small parts and make it is easy for decomposition. Aquatic systems lakes show major inputs from autochthonous sources. It is difficult to determine how much primary producers; allochthonous and autochthonous play role in organic deposits as the diverse inputs such as dead organic material with attached microorganisms, result in complex mixture accumulating heterogeneously in the bottom of the aquatic system.
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Some features affect negatively on the decomposition rate such as; lignin, tannins, nitrogen ratio and hardness of the leaf surface.
This paper reports an experiment of leaf decomposition rates for two species; Conocarpus erectus and Albizia lebbeck. It tests the hypothesis that decomposition rate of leaf litter affected by the leaf characteristics and other biological factors such as invertebrates, fungi and