caa a22 4500 605517428 CHVBK 20210128100719.0 cr unu---uuuuu 210128e20151101xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s10533-015-0147-7 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s10533-015-0147-7 Getting to the root of the problem: litter decomposition and peat formation in lowland Neotropical peatlands [Elektronische Daten] [Jorge Hoyos-Santillan, Barry Lomax, David Large, Benjamin Turner, Arnoud Boom, Omar Lopez, Sofie Sjögersten] Litter decomposition is an important control on carbon accumulation in tropical peatlands. We investigated the contribution of different litter tissues from two peatland tree species (Raphia taedigera and Campnosperma panamensis) to peat formation in four lowland tropical peatlands in the Republic of Panama. Leaves, stems, and roots decomposed at different rates; with roots being the slowest to decompose among tissues. The position of litter in the peat profile strongly influenced the decomposition rate of all tissue types. Roots decomposed up to five times faster at the surface than at 50cm depth. Molecular characterization of litter and peat profiles by tetramethylammonium-pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TMAH-Py-GC/MS) revealed that the peat is formed predominantly of decomposed roots and stems, as indicated by the high lignin, low methylated fatty acids and carbohydrate concentrations in these litter types. Taken together, these data demonstrate that roots play a fundamental role in the formation of lowland Neotropical peatlands. Springer International Publishing Switzerland, 2015 Carbon nationallicence Litter decomposition nationallicence Root nationallicence Tropical peat nationallicence Pyrolysis nationallicence Mass spectrometry nationallicence Hoyos-Santillan Jorge Division of Agricultural and Environmental Science, School of Biosciences, The University of Nottingham, Room C-36 Gateway Building, Sutton Bonington Campus, LE12 5RD, Loughborough, UK aut Lomax Barry Division of Agricultural and Environmental Science, School of Biosciences, The University of Nottingham, Room C-36 Gateway Building, Sutton Bonington Campus, LE12 5RD, Loughborough, UK aut Large David Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, The University of Nottingham, Room A13 Coates Building, University Park Campus, NG7 2RD, Nottingham, UK aut Turner Benjamin Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado Balboa, 0843-03092, Ancon, Republic of Panama aut Boom Arnoud Department of Geography, University of Leicester, Bennett Building - F72b, LE1 7RH, Leicester, UK aut Lopez Omar Centro de Biodiversidad y Descubrimiento de Drogas, Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Servicios de Alta Tecnología (INDICASAT-AIP), Ciudad del Saber, 0843-01103, Clayton, Republic of Panama aut Sjögersten Sofie Division of Agricultural and Environmental Science, School of Biosciences, The University of Nottingham, Room C-36 Gateway Building, Sutton Bonington Campus, LE12 5RD, Loughborough, UK aut Biogeochemistry Springer International Publishing 126/1-2(2015-11-01), 115-129 0168-2563 126:1-2<115 2015 126 10533 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-015-0147-7 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-015-0147-7 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Hoyos-Santillan Jorge Division of Agricultural and Environmental Science, School of Biosciences, The University of Nottingham, Room C-36 Gateway Building, Sutton Bonington Campus, LE12 5RD, Loughborough, UK aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Lomax Barry Division of Agricultural and Environmental Science, School of Biosciences, The University of Nottingham, Room C-36 Gateway Building, Sutton Bonington Campus, LE12 5RD, Loughborough, UK aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Large David Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, The University of Nottingham, Room A13 Coates Building, University Park Campus, NG7 2RD, Nottingham, UK aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Turner Benjamin Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado Balboa, 0843-03092, Ancon, Republic of Panama aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Boom Arnoud Department of Geography, University of Leicester, Bennett Building - F72b, LE1 7RH, Leicester, UK aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Lopez Omar Centro de Biodiversidad y Descubrimiento de Drogas, Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Servicios de Alta Tecnología (INDICASAT-AIP), Ciudad del Saber, 0843-01103, Clayton, Republic of Panama aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Sjögersten Sofie Division of Agricultural and Environmental Science, School of Biosciences, The University of Nottingham, Room C-36 Gateway Building, Sutton Bonington Campus, LE12 5RD, Loughborough, UK aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Biogeochemistry Springer International Publishing 126/1-2(2015-11-01), 115-129 0168-2563 126:1-2<115 2015 126 10533