Table 1.

Decomposition rate (k values) of litter of the three renosterveld plant species, Galenia africana (G), renosterbos Elytropappus rhinocerotis (R) and Watsonia borbonica (W)

Litter type	k value (day−1)	SE	n	Half-life (days)	SE	n
G	0.00674	0.00012	50	101.2	151.5	36
R	0.00222	0.00012	47	308.4	151.5	34
W	0.00029	0.00012	49	2,032	151.5	35

Values are mean k values (decomposition constant in the exponential decay model; unit g g⁻¹ organic matter day⁻¹) and mean mass half-life (in days) for the three litter types across the three sampling days. Only the effect of litter type is shown because variation due to this factor was far greater than for all other factors (as shown in Table 2). Half-life values do not include data from sampling day 65 because of a number of negative mass loss values for W. borbonica (indicating increased mass; see text)