FIGURE 6.
Impacts of plant litter chemistry on decomposition rate. Carbon decomposition rate (sum of CO2 and CH4) at days 5, 15, and 40 for plant litter characteristic of each stage of permafrost thaw. Litter was added to peat from the corresponding thaw stage and incubated with aerobic headspace. Decomposition rates are plotted versus (a) average nominal oxidation state of carbon of the litter, (b) clustering coefficient of compounds found in litter, (c) network heterogeneity of compounds found in litter, and (d) bulk carbon:nitrogen ratio of the litter. Error bars show standard error across replicate incubations for each time point: 9 for day 5, 6 for day 15, 3 for day 40. All values are significantly different at p < .05 based on ANOVA with Tukey HSD except for Fen:Day 40‐Bog:Day 5, Palsa:Day 40‐Palsa:Day 15, Bog:Day 40‐Palsa:Day 15, Bog:Day 40‐Bog:Day 15, Bog:Day 40‐Palsa:Day 40