title: The influence of substrate quality and stream size on wood decomposition dynamics.
abstract: Woody materials decayed more rapidly in a first order stream than in larger streams in eastern Quebec, Canada. The rate of annual mass loss (k) was highest (k=1.20) for alder wood chips in a first order stream and lowest (k=0.04) for black spruce wood chips in a ninth order stream. Decay rates for woody materials in a first order stream were inversely related to their initial lignin to nitrogen ratios. In larger streams, decay rates of woody materials were inversely related to their initial lignin concentrations. A number of quantifiable relationships were found to exist between the initial lignin and nitrogen contents of woody materials and the nitrogen dynamics of decaying wood.
authors.affiliation: The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, 02543, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA.|Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 02543, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA.|Department of Forestry, University of Wisconsin, 53703, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.|Civil Engineering Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 02139, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Jerry M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Melillo
authors.affiliation: The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, 02543, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA.|Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 02543, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA.|Department of Forestry, University of Wisconsin, 53703, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.|Civil Engineering Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 02139, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Naiman
authors.affiliation: The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, 02543, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA.|Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 02543, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA.|Department of Forestry, University of Wisconsin, 53703, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.|Civil Engineering Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 02139, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Aber
authors.affiliation: The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, 02543, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA.|Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 02543, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA.|Department of Forestry, University of Wisconsin, 53703, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.|Civil Engineering Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 02139, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Keith N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Eshleman