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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Laboratory for Agriculture and The Environment » Soil, Water & Air Resources Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #427414
Research Project: Optimizing Carbon Management for Enhancing Soil and Crop Performances

Location: Soil, Water & Air Resources Research

Title: Litter decomposition affected by tree species in alley-cropping site in Arkansas

Author
item Chatterjee, Amitava
item O'Brien, Peter
item Campbell, Tracy

Submitted to: Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/27/2026
Publication Date: 2/4/2026
Citation: Chatterjee, A., O'Brien, P.L., Campbell, T.A. 2026. Litter decomposition affected by tree species in alley-cropping site in Arkansas. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis. https://doi.org/10.1080/00103624.2026.2625155.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00103624.2026.2625155

Interpretive Summary: Alley cropping is an agroforestry practice that involves planting trees in widely spaced rows to allow for crop production in between the rows of trees. These systems simultaneously produce wood or non-timber products like fruits and nuts and high-quality forage or commodity crops on the same land unit in an environmentally sustainable manner. Tree litter from oak, pine, pecan, and sycamore trees collected at an alley cropping site near Fayetteville, Arkansas, was tested to determine carbon and nitrogen losses over time. Releases of carbon and nitrogen from tree litter depend on the initial carbon to nitrogen balance of particular tree species. This study will help land managers and scientists to select tree species in alley cropping systems that maintain carbon and nitrogen balance in soil.

Technical Abstract: Litter decomposition in an alley-cropping system is an important process contributing to soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) pools. An in-situ litter decomposition study was conducted using a litter bag method with four tree species, northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.), pecan (Carya illinoiensis Wangenh. K. Koch), pitch/loblolly pine (Pinus rigida Mill. × Pinus taedae L.), and American sycamore (Plantanus occidentalis L.). Litter bags were collected after 350 days and 568 days and analyzed for remaining mass percentage and loss of C and N. For each species, a single exponential model was used to determine the decomposition rate. Sycamore had the highest decomposition rate followed by pecan, oak, and pine, which closely followed the initial C:N ratio of litter (23.7, 37.7, 45.6, and 55.6, respectively). Litter quality or C:N ratio is important for the selection of tree species in alley-cropping management.