The influence of repeated prescribed fire on decomposition and nutrient release in uneven-aged loblolly–shortleaf pine stands

Fire Ecology

Table 5 Decay rate constants previously published for loblolly pine foliar litterfall in stands ranging from 9 to 15 years of age at the time of litterbag installation

Study	No treatment	Fertilization	Irrigation	Vegetation control
Sanchez 2001¹	0.33, 0.34	0.43, 0.41	0.35, 0.35
Piatek and Allen 2001²	0.41, 0.43
Gurlevik et al. 2003³	0.39	0.40		0.27

¹Rate constants calculated from high- and low-quality pine foliage litter. Treatments were applied annually in the area of the decomposition study
²Rate constants for foliage collected from two different 15-year-old stands
³Treatments were applied once just prior to initiation of the decomposition study