Effects of Water Content and Mesh Size on Tea Bag Decomposition

Mori, Taiki; Aoyagi, Ryota; Taga, Hiroki; Sakai, Yoshimi

doi:10.3390/ecologies2010010

Cited by 17 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…The bags were oven‐dried at 70°C for 72 h and the dry weight was determined. As the tea bag manufacturer Lipton changed the tea bag mesh from woven nylon 0.25 mm mesh to nonwoven polypropylene mesh (Teatime 4 Science, http://www.teatime4science.org/), we reproduced woven tea bags using 0.25 mm mesh (polyester) and tea inside the nonwoven tea bags following Mori, Aoyagi, et al (2021).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Risk of misinterpreting the Tea Bag Index: Field observations and a random simulation

Mori

Nakamura

Aoyagi

2022

Ecological Research

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To understand the global impact of anthropogenic activities on litter decomposition, it is necessary to obtain large decomposition datasets using a standardized method. The Tea Bag Index (TBI) approach determines the decomposition constant (k) of an asymptote model of litter decomposition and a stabilized ratio of the hydrolyzable fraction (stabilization factor S) using a single measurement of the mass loss ratios of green and rooibos teas. This approach requires the assumption that S is equal for rooibos and green tea. Here, we performed a field experiment in four temperate forest stands that demonstrated that this assumption is not always true. In a forest on limestone soils, more than half of the mass loss ratios of rooibos tea exceeded the decomposable fraction predicted by the assumption and the green tea data, which implies that the S was higher for green tea than rooibos tea. This indicated that the main assumption is not

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Risk of misinterpreting the Tea Bag Index: Field observations and a random simulation

Mori

Nakamura

Aoyagi

2022

Ecological Research

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“…Surface soils (0–10 cm) were sampled from four randomly selected subplots established in a Japanese cedar [ Cryptomeria japonica (L.f.) D.Don] plantation located at the Tatsudayama research site in Kumamoto, Japan (32.82 N, 130.73 E). Previous studies reported that the mean annual temperature and precipitation amounts at the research sites were 17.1°C and 1951 mm, respectively (Mori et al, 2021a) (data obtained from the Agro-Meteorological Grid Square Data of the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization). Sampled soils were sieved through a 4-mm sieve after the removal of large pieces of organic matter.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A pair of tea bags (green and rooibos) was buried in 100 g of freshly sampled soil placed in a plastic (polyethylene terephthalate) bottle. The soil moisture was adjusted to 45% (w/w) because a previous study at the same site demonstrated that tea decomposition rates were highest around this moisture level (Mori et al, 2021a). Twenty bottles (4 subplots × 5 time-series) were placed in a cold room (3°C) for 5, 13, 23, 58, and 90 days.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Following the TBI protocol (Keuskamp et al, 2013), Lipton green tea bags (EAN: 87 10,908 90359 5; Lipton) and Lipton rooibos tea bags (EAN: 87 22,700 18843 8; Lipton) were used. Since Lipton has changed the mesh from woven (0.25 mm) to nonwoven—but not the tea materials inside (Teatime 4 Science; http://www.teatime4science.org/)—I reproduced woven tea bags using 0.25-mm mesh and the tea materials from the current nonwoven tea bags (see Mori et al ., 2021a).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Validation of the Tea Bag Index as a standard approach for assessing organic matter decomposition

Mori

2022

Preprint

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The Tea Bag Index (TBI), a novel approach to assessing organic matter decomposition using commercial tea bags, has been increasingly utilized as a standard method in academic studies worldwide. This approach was designed to obtain an early-stage decomposition constant (k) indicative of early-stage decomposition rates and a litter stabilization factor (S) indicative of long-term carbon stability by using two types of teas—green and rooibos. However, despite the worldwide usage of the method, the accuracy of this approach has never been validated in terrestrial ecosystems. Here, the validity of this approach was tested by examining the two essential premises of the TBI using a laboratory incubation experiment. The first premise of the TBI—namely, that the unstabilized hydrolyzable fraction of green tea is mostly decomposed within 90 days—did not hold in the present study, which caused overestimations of the S of rooibos tea, as well as k. The second premise—namely, that the ratio of stabilized to total hydrolyzable fractions (i.e., S) of rooibos tea is equal to that of green tea—was also rejected, which resulted in substantial underestimations of the S of rooibos tea and k. Overall, the TBI largely underestimated the S of rooibos tea and k (more than 1.5 and 5 times smaller than those determined by time-series data, respectively). The present study suggests that time-series mass loss data of rooibos tea should be obtained to accurately determine k, rather than assuming that the S of rooibos tea is equal to that of green tea.

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“…This could mask the contribution of other decomposition drivers at the local scale, such as variations in the microbial communities (Bradford et al, 2017). In addition, because water availability is an important driver of mass loss in tea bags (Djukic et al, 2018;Blume-Werry et al, 2021;Mori et al, 2021), the local-scale conditions of soil moisture measured continuously throughout the incubation period may better explain the variation in initial decomposition rates.…”

Section: Organic Matter Inputmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate, Soil, and Plant Controls on Early-Stage Litter Decomposition in Moso Bamboo Stands at a Regional Scale

Orrego

Ugawa

Inoue

et al. 2022

Front. For. Glob. Change

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Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) is currently distributed across a wide geographical area in East Asia. As a common bamboo species occurring along a broad environmental gradient, there is a need to understand how environmental and biotic drivers affect belowground processes at large scales. In this study, we investigated the influence of climate, soil properties, stand characteristics, and organic matter input parameters as potential drivers of the initial decomposition process in Moso bamboo stands at a regional scale. Using the Tea Bag Index method, we estimated the initial decomposition rate (k) and stabilization factor (S; potential long-term carbon storage) from standard litter incubated at 13 sites across southern Japan and Taiwan. We found that both decomposition parameters were strongly affected by the climate. The climatic conditions during the incubation period better explained the variance in k. In contrast, the long-term climate was more important for S. Notably, temperature and precipitation interactively affected the initial decomposition rates. This interaction showed that in warmer sites, precipitation increased k, whereas in cooler sites, precipitation had no effect or even decreased k. Soil parameters had no influence on k and only had minor effects on S. A structural equation model showed that the stabilization factor was indirectly affected by stand density, which suggests that higher bamboo densities could increase litter stabilization by increasing above-and below-ground organic matter input. Our study highlights the central role of climate in controlling decomposition processes in Moso bamboo stands on a broad scale. Moreover, differences in stand structure can indirectly affect potential soil carbon storage through changes in organic matter input and soil conditions.

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Effects of Water Content and Mesh Size on Tea Bag Decomposition

Cited by 17 publications

References 19 publications

Risk of misinterpreting the Tea Bag Index: Field observations and a random simulation

Risk of misinterpreting the Tea Bag Index: Field observations and a random simulation

Validation of the Tea Bag Index as a standard approach for assessing organic matter decomposition

Climate, Soil, and Plant Controls on Early-Stage Litter Decomposition in Moso Bamboo Stands at a Regional Scale

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