SREL Reprint #2013

Free and humic-bound carbohydrates leached from leaves of four floodplain tree species

Gary L. Mills, Charlotte P. Wolfe, and Barry R. Dalton

Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802

Abstract: Free and humic-bound carbohydrates were measured in rainfall leached through leaves of four floodplain tree species. Leaf material differed in the total amount of leachable carbohydrates as well as in the form of carbohydrate released, i.e. free versus humic-bound. Red maple (Acer rubrum) contained the greatest amount of cumulative total leachable carbohydrates, followed by sweetgum (Liquidambar styracifula), sweet bay (Magnolia virginiana), and white oak (Quercus alba). Sweetgum leachate contained the highest percentage of free carbohydrates (69%), followed by sweet bay (29%), red maple (26%), and white oak (23%). Greatest amounts of free carbohydrates in all species were leached during the initial two to three rainfalls of the experiment.

SREL Reprint #2013

Mills, G.L., C.P. Wolfe, and B.R. Dalton. 1995. Free and humic-bound carbohydrates leached from leaves of four floodplain tree species. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis 26:3335-3341.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).