Electronic Supplementary Material Figure S1. The effects of the gaps on lignin loss in Fargesia
nitida and Salix paraplesia foliar litter during different specific periods of decomposition in the
alpine fir forest of the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Negative values indicate a net increase in
lignin-like compounds, potentially caused by a buildup of microbial by-products (Brandt and
others 2010; Song and others 2011). SF, snow formation period; SC, snow coverage period; ST,
snow thawing period; EG, early growing period; LG, later growing period. Bars indicate the
standard error. Different lowercase letters indicate significant differences (p < 0.05) among the
litterbag positions during the same decomposition period.
Electronic Supplementary Material Figure S2. The effects of the gaps on the lignin degradation
rates in Fargesia nitida and Salix paraplesia foliar litter during different periods of decomposition
in the alpine fir forest of the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. W1, first winter period; G1, first
growing period; W2, second winter period; G2, second growing period. Bars indicate the standard
error. Different lowercase letters indicate significant differences (p < 0.05) among different
decomposition periods for the same gap position.
Electronic Supplementary Material Figure S3. The effects of the gaps on the lignin degradation
rates in Fargesia nitida and Salix paraplesia foliar litter during different specific periods of
decomposition in the alpine fir forest of the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Negative values
indicate a net increase in lignin-like compounds, potentially caused by a buildup of microbial byproducts (Brandt and others 2010; Song and others 2011). SF, snow formation period; SC, snow
coverage period; ST, snow thawing period; EG, early growing period; LG, later growing period.
Bars indicate the standard error. Different lowercase letters indicate significant differences (p <
0.05) among different decomposition periods for the same gap position.
1
Electronic Supplementary Material Table S1. Average Temperature (AT, °C) and Frequency of Freeze-thaw Cycles (FFTC, times) from the Gap
2
Center to the Closed Canopy During Each Decomposition Period
1st year
Landscape
Snow
Snow
Snow
Early
Later
Snow
Snow
Snow
Early
Later
position
formation
coverage
thawing
growing
growing
formation
coverage
thawing
growing
growing
period
period
period
period
period
period
period
period
period
period
12.33
6.1
0.3
2.2
11.39
14.19
2
15
0
35
38
1
10.8
6.74
–0.79
–2.13
13
0
39
59
6.08
–0.84
–2.79
0
27
11
6.9
5.43
–0.98
–3.35
1
0
26
28
7.67
5.19
–1.46
–3.24
25
21
Gap center south
Gap center north
Canopy edge
Expanded edge
Closed canopy
3
2nd year
AT
0.38
–2.00
FFTC
48
0
AT
–0.49
–2.40
FFTC
49
54
AT
–0.66
–2.86
FFTC
41
AT
–0.61
–3.53
FFTC
38
22
AT
–1.02
–3.47
FFTC
39
15
5
–0.14
23
0.37
18
0.32
34
0.5
38
7.86
13
0
27
–1.90
10
1.82
20
1.04
21
1.09
36
1.2
39
0
9.76
5
13.45
0
5
9.98
9.97
0
9
8.48
6.43
0
0
8.41
0
11.93
0
Brandt LA, King JY, Hobbie SE, Milchunas DG, Sinsabaugh RL. 2010. The role of photodegradation in surface litter decomposition
across a grassland ecosystem precipitation gradient. Ecosystems 13:765-781.
Song XZ, Jiang H, Zhang HL, Peng CH, Yu SQ. 2011. Elevated uv-b radiation did not affect decomposition rates of needles of two
coniferous species in subtropical China. Eur J Soil Biol 47:343-348.