Changes in soluble nutrients of prairie riparian vegetation during decomposition on a floodplain [1]

Measurements of concentration of Mg, K, Ca, Na, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and total N were made of the soluble fraction of leaves decomposing on the floodplain of a prairie stream. Differences in the concentrations of these nutrients were dependent on the species of leaf material and location on the floodplain. Leaves placed in the grassland reach of the stream had lower concentrations of soluble nutrients than leaves placed in the gallery forest. Correlations between concentration of leachable nutrients and cumulative precipitation or DOC were both positive and negative. Species differed in rank order of the nutrient concentration in leachates of their leaves. Bluestem and sycamore leaf leachate concentrations were low, whereas hackberry, elm and bur oak leaf leachate concentrations were relatively high