Typhoon-induced litter on lawns and soil surfaces exhibit divergent decomposition patterns

Abstract Typhoon-generated green litter is commonly deposited on lawns and soil surfaces in urban forest ecosystems, where differences in microenvironmental conditions and soil fauna accessibility may alter the pathways of carbon and nutrient cycling during litter decomposition. However, knowledge regarding the decomposition of typhoon-generated green litter and physiologically senesced litter in these microhabitats remains limited. To address this gap, we simultaneously incubated typhoon-generated green and naturally senesced leaf litter of camphor (Cinnamomum camphora) tree on the lawn and soil surfaces in combination with soil fauna exclusion. The mass remaining of senesced and green litter was significantly lower on lawns than on soil, and the mass remaining of senesced litter was significantly higher than that of green litter in both microhabitats. Carbon remaining in senesced and green litter on the lawn was markedly lower than those on the soil surface. Additionally, C and N remaining in green litter were substantially lower than those in senesced litter. A notable decrease in C, N and P remaining in green litter on the soil surface occurred after the spring litter peak. Furthermore, soil fauna significantly reduced litter mass remaining, as well as C and P remaining, exerting a stronger effect on the decomposition of green litter than on senesced litter. We conclude that green and senesced litter exhibit distinct decomposition patterns across microhabitats.