Hi, Fellows in Ecolog-L I would like to ask for your suggestion on one of our decomposition experiment.
We have some wood materials that decomposed for three years. After 2 years, the carbon concentration (mg/g, that is X mg carbon to 1 g of dry material) started to drop below 500mg/g. It reached around 300 mg/g at the end of the 3 years. I'm wonder if there is any reason for the decrease of this carbon concentration. One reason I think possible is that the carbon was respired while O and H were accumulated and form humic like materials. We'll appreciate any input. Thanks. Zewei Song University of Minnesota Dept. of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering Lab of Biodegradation