Small Roots of Parashorea chinensis Wang Hsie Decompose Slower than Twigs

Plants produce above- and below-ground biomass. However, our understanding of both production and decomposition of below-ground biomass is poor, largely because of the difficulties of accessing roots. Below-ground organic matter decomposition studies are scant and especially rare in the tropics. In this study, we used a litter bag experiment to quantify the mass loss and nutrient dynamics of decomposing twigs and small roots from an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal associated tree, Parashorea chinensis Wang Hsie, in a tropical rain forest in Southwest China.