Keenan, R.J., C.E. Prescott, J.P. Kimmins, J. Pastor, and B. Dewey, 1996. Litter decomposition in western red cedar and western hemlock forests in northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Can. J. Bot. 74:1626-1634.

Litter decomposition and changes in N and organic chemicals were studied for 2 years in two forest types: (a) old-growth western red cedar (Thuja plicata) and western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) and (b) 85-year-old stands of western hemlock and amabilis fir (Abies amabilis) that developed after a major windstorm. The data were used to test the hypothesis that lower rates of mass loss and different patterns of nutrient release in decomposing litter could explain lower nutrient availability in the cedar/hemlock type. Decomposition rate of a standard litter substrate, lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) needles, was almost identical in the two forest types indicating that each had a similar microenvironment for decomposers. Leaves of salal (Gaultheria shallon), the dominant shrub, had a lower lignin to N ratio and decomposed and released N more rapidly than the conifer litters. Among the conifers, cedar had poorer litter quality (higher lignin to N ratio), decomposed more slowly and released considerably less N during the study. Cedar litter contributes to lower N availability in cedar/hemlock forests, but other factors, such as lower external N cycling and complexing of N with secondary carbon compounds during later stages of decomposition, are also likely to have a major influence on N availability.