Litter decomposition characteristics of walnut plantations in the Taihang Mountains of Hebei Province, China

Litter decomposition characteristics of walnut plantations in the Taihang Mountains of Hebei Province, China | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Litter decomposition characteristics of walnut plantations in the Taihang Mountains of Hebei Province, China Xingrui Zhang, Dan Li, Liying Chen, Haoan Luan, Guohui Qi This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7784654/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 24 Feb, 2026 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The decomposition characteristics of three forms of walnut orchard litter (leaves, husks, and male inflorescences) were studied to characterize the dynamics of the decomposition process and the role of litter in maintaining the balance of nutrient elements between aboveground vegetation and belowground soil. The experiment was carried out at a walnut plantation in the southern Taihang Mountains of Hebei Province, China. The analysis focused on the dynamic changes of four mineral elements, trace elements, and lignin. The results showed that during the 300-day decomposition period, the mass residue percentages of the three types of litter were leaves (64.92%), husks (37.90%), and male inflorescences (21.33%). The 120th day was a turning point in the decomposition process. Before this, the decomposition process was active and relatively rapid; after reaching this inflection point, the rate of decomposition tended to stabilize. The Olson model was used to simulate and predict the decomposition process of three types of litter. The order of the decomposition coefficient k for litter types was male inflorescence > husks > leaves. The higher the k value, the greater the decomposition rate. The 50% decomposition time estimates for leaves, husks, and male inflorescences were 1.28a, 0.53a, and 0.39a, respectively, with values of 5.54a, 2.28a, and 1.68a for 95% decomposition, respectively. After 300 days, according to the criterion of NR < 100%, the C, N, P, K, and lignin contents of the three types of litter showed a net release state, with a wave release decomposition form and a small enrichment phenomenon occurring during the process. Compared with the initial state of decomposition, the four trace elements generally exhibited a net release state. Biological sciences/Ecology Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences Biological sciences/Plant sciences Taihang Mountains Walnut plantation Litter Decomposing features Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 24 Feb, 2026 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 04 Nov, 2025 Reviews received at journal 02 Nov, 2025 Reviews received at journal 01 Nov, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 14 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 13 Oct, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 13 Oct, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 13 Oct, 2025 Editor invited by journal 13 Oct, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 10 Oct, 2025 First submitted to journal 10 Oct, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7784654","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":534003468,"identity":"c268dbc6-87e0-4191-bbfd-5ea3f1d554d9","order_by":0,"name":"Xingrui Zhang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Hebei Agricultural University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xingrui","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""},{"id":534003469,"identity":"b0e7038e-1c86-418c-873c-f7532a9373d2","order_by":1,"name":"Dan Li","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Hebei Agricultural 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China","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Taihang Mountains, Walnut plantation, Litter, Decomposing features","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7784654/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7784654/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe decomposition characteristics of three forms of walnut orchard litter (leaves, husks, and male inflorescences) were studied to characterize the dynamics of the decomposition process and the role of litter in maintaining the balance of nutrient elements between aboveground vegetation and belowground soil. The experiment was carried out at a walnut plantation in the southern Taihang Mountains of Hebei Province, China. The analysis focused on the dynamic changes of four mineral elements, trace elements, and lignin. The results showed that during the 300-day decomposition period, the mass residue percentages of the three types of litter were leaves (64.92%), husks (37.90%), and male inflorescences (21.33%). The 120th day was a turning point in the decomposition process. Before this, the decomposition process was active and relatively rapid; after reaching this inflection point, the rate of decomposition tended to stabilize. The Olson model was used to simulate and predict the decomposition process of three types of litter. The order of the decomposition coefficient k for litter types was male inflorescence\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;husks\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;leaves. The higher the k value, the greater the decomposition rate. The 50% decomposition time estimates for leaves, husks, and male inflorescences were 1.28a, 0.53a, and 0.39a, respectively, with values of 5.54a, 2.28a, and 1.68a for 95% decomposition, respectively. After 300 days, according to the criterion of NR\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;100%, the C, N, P, K, and lignin contents of the three types of litter showed a net release state, with a wave release decomposition form and a small enrichment phenomenon occurring during the process. Compared with the initial state of decomposition, the four trace elements generally exhibited a net release state.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Litter decomposition characteristics of walnut plantations in the Taihang Mountains of Hebei Province, China","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-10-27 15:23:47","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7784654/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2025-11-04T05:22:30+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-11-02T08:32:36+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-11-01T19:06:43+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"27756828957337899909948367793383107292","date":"2025-10-14T05:52:19+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"38681341058587269859585091557892849218","date":"2025-10-13T14:52:42+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-10-13T13:43:13+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-10-13T13:33:17+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2025-10-13T11:37:40+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-10-10T13:50:03+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Scientific Reports","date":"2025-10-10T13:46:17+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"cb65cbe1-5270-4bd8-a888-a4d2fffae985","owner":[],"postedDate":"October 27th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[{"id":56778896,"name":"Biological sciences/Ecology"},{"id":56778897,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology"},{"id":56778898,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences"},{"id":56778899,"name":"Biological sciences/Plant sciences"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-03-02T16:00:14+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-7784654","link":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-40404-x","journal":{"identity":"scientific-reports","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Scientific Reports"},"publishedOn":"2026-02-24 15:57:10","publishedOnDateReadable":"February 24th, 2026"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-10-27 15:23:47","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1038/s41598-026-40404-x","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-40404-x","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7784654","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7784654","identity":"rs-7784654","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}