Quality of DOC produced during litter decomposition of peatland plant dominants

Litter decomposition is an important source of dissolved organic matter (DOC). In peatlands with hardly degradable soil DOC, the input of DOC from vascular plant litter can represent an important source of nutrients and decomposable substrates for soil microorganisms. We established a laboratory incubation with the litters of three peatland plant dominants (Sphagnum fallax, Vaccinium myrtillus and Eriophorum vaginatum) for 200 days, aiming to study DOC production and its quality. The quality of the DOC leached from the litters was characterized by a distribution of C, N and P among molecular weight (MW) fractions (<1, 1-10, 10-100 and > 100 kDa), their aromaticity, composition of low molecular weight compounds (organic acids, sugars and amino acids) and DOC biodegradability.