Tea bag decomposition on North- and South-facing slopes in Chaparral ecosystems. ​ ​

Abstract

California's ecological health depends on chaparral habitats, especially for nutrient cycling and carbon storage. The impact of plant species and slope aspect on litter decomposition in the chaparral habitat at California State University San Marcos (CSUSM) was examined in this study. By placing tea bags as standardized litter close to two prominent plant species (Salvia and Ceanothus) across north- and south-facing slopes, we were able to investigate variations in carbon and nitrogen dynamics. A Costech 4010 Elemental Analyzer was used to analyze the mass and nitrogen content of forty tea bags that were deposited on January 31st, 2024, and retrieved on April 18th. The results showed that south-facing slopes had considerably higher nitrogen loss (p = 0.011) and mass (p = 0.017) than north-facing slopes, indicating that environmental factors like temperature affect decomposition. Plant species did not, however, differ significantly from one another (p > 0.05). These results demonstrate how slope orientation affects microbial activity and nitrogen cycling in chaparral ecosystems.