Methods to Study Litter Decomposition: A Practical Guide

TABLE OF CONTENTS......Page 5
PREFACE......Page 9
PART 1. LITTER DYNAMICS......Page 11
1. Litter Input......Page 12
2. Leaf Retention......Page 21
3. Manipulation of Stream Retentiveness......Page 27
4. Coarse Benthic Organic Matter......Page 33
5. Leaching......Page 40
6. Leaf Mass Loss Estimated by Litter Bag Technique......Page 44
7. Coarse Particulate Organic Matter Budgets......Page 50
PART 2. LEAF CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES......Page 58
8. Determination of Total Nitrogen and Phosphorus in Leaf Litter......Page 59
9. Total Protein......Page 66
10. Free Amino Acids......Page 73
11. Determination of Total Carbohydrates......Page 79
12. Determination of Soluble Carbohydrates......Page 88
13. Total Lipids......Page 94
14. Total Phenolics......Page 99
15. Radial Diffusion Assay for Tannins......Page 103
16. Acid Butanol Assay for Proanthocyanidins (Condensed Tannins)......Page 108
17. Proximate Lignin and Cellulose......Page 115
18. Leaf Toughness......Page 121
PART 3. MICROBIAL DECOMPOSERS......Page 126
19. Techniques for Handling Ingoldian Fungi......Page 127
20. Maintenance of Aquatic Hyphomycete Cultures......Page 140
21. An Illustrated Key to the Common Temperate Species of Aquatic Hyphomycetes......Page 149
22. Molecular Approaches to Estimate Fungal Diversity. I. Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (T-RFLP)......Page 164
23. Molecular Approaches to Estimate Fungal Diversity. II. Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE)......Page 172
24. Sporulation of Aquatic Hyphomycetes......Page 179
25. Ergosterol as a Measure of Fungal Biomass......Page 183
26. Acetate Incorporation into Ergosterol to Determine Fungal Growth Rates and Production......Page 190
27. Bacterial Counts and Biomass Determination by Epifluorescence Microscopy......Page 196
28. Secondary Production and Growth of Litter-Associated Bacteria......Page 202
29. Isolation of Cellulose-degrading Bacteria......Page 209
30. Extraction and Quantification of ATP as a Measure of Microbial Biomass......Page 215
31. Respirometry......Page 222
PART 4. ENZYMATIC CAPABILITIES......Page 228
32. Extractellular Fungal Hydrolytic Enzyme Activity......Page 229
33. Cellulases......Page 239
34. Viscosimetric Determination of Endocellulase Activity......Page 245
35. Fluorometric Determination of the Activity of β-Glucosidase and other Extracellular Hydrolytic Enzymes......Page 251
36. Pectin-Degrading Enzymes: Polygalacturonase and Pectin Lyase......Page 257
37. Lignin-Degrading Enzymes: Phenoloxidase and Peroxidase......Page 262
38. Phenol Oxidation......Page 267
39. Proteinase Activity: Azocoll and Thin-Layer Enzyme Assay......Page 271
PART 5. DETRITIVOROUS CONSUMERS......Page 277
40. Maintenance of Shredders in the Laboratory......Page 278
41. Feeding Preferences of Shredders......Page 283
PART 6. DATA ANALYSIS......Page 289
42. A Primer for Statistical Analysis......Page 290
43. Biodiversity......Page 298