Factors affecting the applicability of the AET model for decomposition in arid environments

Elkins, Ned; Steinberger, Yosef; Whitford, W.

There is considerable interest in the applicability of the model developed by Meentemeyer which predicts decomposition as a function of actual evapotranspiration (AET) and lignin, to environments other than forests. Whitford et al. (1981b) discussed exceptions to Meentemeyer AET model in deserts and clearcut forests and concluded that in these environments, biological activity that is relatively independent of AET, such as activity of soil microarthropods and termites, accounts for the deviations (higher rates) from the model. We recently completed a study of decomposition in a semiarid desert-grassland transitional area that provides another independent test of the AET model. Our study was conducted at the site of the proposed nuclear waste isolation pilot plant 40 km of Carlsbad, New Mexico, USA. Rainfall averages about 260 mm/yr with most precipitation occurring in late summer and autumn, and in late spring. We used litter characteristics of three plant communities: creosotebush, Larrea tridentata, shinnery oak, Quercus harvardii and a mixture of two grasses, black gramma, Bouteloua eripoda, and burrograss, Scleriopogon brevifolia.

Factors affecting the applicability of the AET model for decomposition in arid environments

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