Project

LOGLIFE

LOGLIFE is a long-term common garden experiment with reciprocal exchange of coarse dead wood of multiple tree species, all incubated in each of two contrasting sites in The Netherlands, the Hollandse Hout, Flevoland and Schovenhorst, Veluwe. The main objectives of LOGLIFE are (1) to experimentally test for interspecific variation in dead wood decomposability as determined by chemical and structural-anatomical traits and allometry; and (2) to test the consequences of this variation for wood-associated diversity of other organisms.

Key related focal topics of LOGLIFE are:
1.    Interactions of wood traits and decomposability with microbial colonisation and invertebrate communities;
2.    feedbacks between tree decomposition and forest productivity;
3.    interspecific differences in the dynamics of recalcitrant C-rich compounds during decomposition and consequences for soil organic matter storage;
4.    relative contributions of microclimate effects versus species trait effects on wood decomposition rates;
5.    relative contributions of interspecific versus intraspecific variation to wood decomposability
6.    coordinated variation of wood decomposability with variation in decomposability of other tree organs across species;
7.    role of bark traits for bark and wood decomposability.

More detailed information on this project can be found in our Ambio paper "Controls on coarse wood decay in temperate tree species: birth of the LOGLIFE experimen" and on the LOGLIFE website.

Publications