Litter decomposition in different development stage of Anatolian black pine stands in Cankiri-Eldivan region

The growth and development of plants are closely related with the decomposition processes in terrestrial ecosystems. The litter decomposition in forest ecosystems serves a reservoir of nutritional elements that is essential for the development of the trees and energy source for the soil micro- and macroorganisms. The study of litter decomposition of Anatolian pine (Pinus nigra subsp. pallasiana) was inadequate. The aim of this thesis, determine the decomposition and chemical contents of needle litter of Anatolian pine stands of various development stages during the decomposition processes. The studies were conducted in the Research and Application Forest of Çankırı Karatekin University, Faculty of Forestry, which locates at a transition zone between central Anatolian and black sea region climate. Sampling areas were selected from stands of Anatolian pine of different development stages (ab, b and c). Pine needles were collected from litter traps in Summer 2016 and were used to prepare the 20×20 cm needle litter meshes which consist of 4-5 g of needles placed in fiber-glass nets of 2 mm mesh size. A total of 216 litter bags were placed on the forest floor in November of 2016 and were collected for analysis bimonthly. The remaining litter mass and the k constant as the unit of decomposition ratio was determined. The remaining litter masses were 69.90, 75.92, and 73.57 %, whereas the k constant values were 0.36, 0.27 and 0.30 in Çkab, Çkb and Çkc stands of pure Anatolian pine stands respectively. Thus, the litter decomposition was found to be faster in the young pine stands in comparison to the older ones in this research forest.