Short life–fast death: decomposition rates of woody plants leaf- and herb-litter

Table 1 Description and life history traits of the species included in the study

Species	Life form¹	Life span	Functional group²	Strategy³	Leaf persistence⁴	LDMC (mg g⁻¹)	SLA (cm² g⁻¹)	LNC (mg g⁻¹)	Date of the start of the experiment	Number of litter bags
Anemone nemorosa	G	Perennial	se	CSR	V	205.0	277.1	26.77	26.05.2012	132
Anemone ranunculoides	G	Perennial	se	CSR	V	184.1	365.3	-	26.05.2012	132
Corydalis cava	G	Perennial	se	CSR	V	139.9	510.0	-	26.05.2012	132
Ficaria verna	G/H	Perennial	se	CSR	V	117.5	317.9	33.00	26.05.2012	132
Asarum europaeum	H	Perennial	wg	CS	I	145.8	275.2	31.80	23.06.2012	132
Adoxa moschatellina	G	Perennial	se	CSR	V	136.7	384.5	-	23.06.2012	132
Paris quadrifolia	G	Perennial	se	CSR	S	176.0	350.0	-	23.06.2012	132
Alliaria petiolata	C/H	Annual/perennial	ms	CR	I	161.3	404.4	37.22	01.09.2012	126
Maianthemum bifolium	G	Perennial	ms	S	S	238.6	331.4	24.90	01.09.2012	144
Aegopodium podagrariaS	H	Perennial	ms	C	S	230.0	297.7	21.49	01.09.2012	198
Aegopodium podagrariaL	H	Perennial	as	C	S	230.0	297.7	21.49	08.12.2012	132
Galeobdolon luteum	C	Perennial	as	CS	I	270.0	253.5	18.19	08.12.2012	78
Mercurialis perennis	G	Perennial	as	CS	S	224.5	256.8	24.74	08.12.2012	132
Stachys sylvatica	H	Perennial	as	CS	S	207.0	421.2	22.89	08.12.2012	132
Urtica dioica	C	Perennial	as	C	S	212.5	261.6	40.53	08.12.2012	132
Corylus avellana	N	Perennial	ts	C	S	283.8	205.4	24.20	27.10.2012	132
Acer pseudoplatanus	M	Perennial	ts	C	S	262.5	167.6	23.80	27.10.2012	132
Carpinus betulus	M	Perennial	ts	C	S	254.4	236.7	20.85	27.10.2012	132
Fraxinus excelsior	M	Perennial	ts	C	S	256.5	135.6	22.61	27.10.2012	132
Quercus robur	M	Perennial	ts	C	S	280.0	153.4	21.99	27.10.2012	132
Source⁵:	1	1		1	1	2	2	3

Aegopodium podagrariaS - Aegopodium podagraria blooming shoots; Aegopodium podagrariaL - Aegopodium podagraria leaves
¹Life forms: H - hemicryptophytes; C - chamaephytes; G - geophytes; T - therophytes
²Functional group: se - spring ephemerals; wg - winter-green plants; ms - mid-summer senescing plants; as - autumn-senescing plants; ts - trees and shrubs
³Life strategies: C - competitive; CR - competitive/ruderal; CSR - competitive/stress-tolerant/ruderal; CS - competitive/stress-tolerant; S - stress-tolerant
⁴Leaf persistence: S - summer green; I - persistent green; V - spring green
⁵Source of data: 1 - BiolFlor (Klotz et al. 2002); 2 - LEDA trait database (Kleyer et al. 2008), 3 - TRY database (Kattge et al. 2011)

ISSN: 1297-966X