Throw Me An Apple

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The decomposition rate tells us how quickly or slowly material is being decomposed. Litterbags allow scientists to test which factors affect decomposition rates in an ecosystem.

The factors scientists are interested in testing include the amount of moisture present, soil pH, the types of plants that are decomposing, and microbial diversity , which means the different types and numbers of microbes present in the soil [ 1 , 2 ]. One example that showed the importance of microbes in decomposition was an accidental experiment, the Chernobyl disaster, a catastrophic nuclear accident that occurred in in what is now Ukraine.

The accident released massive amounts of radioactive material from a nuclear plant, impacting humans and the environment. In terms of the microbes, the accident sterilized the soil, killing the microbial communities. Almost 30 years later, the site of this accident has accumulated tall piles of fallen leaves and many dead trees; the dead plant material is not decaying.

When scientists conducted litterbag experiments to determine why, they found that the really slow decomposition was mostly due to the lack of microbes [ 3 ]. Scientists can set up field experiments when they have questions they want to answer. For example, how will climate change impact decomposition rates? In one study, to answer this question, researchers added different microbial communities, one from a dry grassland environment and one from a wet grassland environment, to litterbags containing sterilized grassland plant material [ 2 ] Figure 3A.

These litterbags were made out of mesh with really, really small holes, to make a cage for the microbes so they could not get in or out. The litterbags were weighed and then placed outside in a grassland and collected after many months. The researchers found that the litterbags containing the microbial communities from the dry conditions had slower decomposition rates than those from the wetter conditions, even though the litterbags were placed in the same environment during the experiment Figure 3B. This example shows that the kinds of microorganisms that are present in the community influence the rate of decomposition.

The researchers hypothesized that the microbial community from the dry environment worked slower, because those microbes were specialized for surviving in harsher conditions, while the microbes from the wet environment were better at decomposing dead plants more quickly. More experiments are continuing to test this hypothesis. It is not just an ending, but also a beginning.

It is part of the global carbon cycle, which is critical to life on Earth. For plant material in particular, in natural ecosystems, researchers want to know how decomposition affects soil quality and how decomposition might change with a changing climate. Will warmer temperatures speed up decomposition, putting more CO 2 into the atmosphere? Maybe, but microbial communities might not work as quickly in warmer climates, or they might switch what they like to eat. Many complex pieces work together to drive the decomposition process and we do not yet know how they all work together.

Decomposition has many other important functions. Decomposition is a key to better fuels made from plant materials.

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In order to use agricultural crops, such as corn or soybeans, for fuel, scientists need to figure out how to break down plant material more efficiently. One possible solution is figuring out which microbes or microbial communities might do the job [ 4 ]. And decomposition happens inside of us. Microbial communities that are living in the gut help us to decompose and digest the food that we eat [ 5 ]. There remains a lot to be learned about how these microbial communities affect us and our health. You can experiment with decomposition, too! The starting tools are as simple as a piece of cloth and glue to construct litterbags, plant material, and a scale to measure changes in weight over time.

What is your question? What factors do you want to investigate? Or, the next time you are about to throw something out your car window, think about this question: If it lands in a patch of soil, which could have high microbial diversity, it might decompose faster than if it lands on the pavement, where the microbial diversity is probably lower. And if the thing that you throw out is something that is easier for microbes to eat, like an apple core, decomposition might be faster than if you throw out something harder to break down, like an orange peel.

But either way, what you throw out might still take months to decompose. You can even start exploring decomposition by making a compost pile with kitchen vegetable scraps and grass clippings and watch as it turns into soil. Two key components include uptake of carbon dioxide CO 2 from the atmosphere by plants and return of carbon C to the atmosphere during decomposition.

apple of discord

On Earth, mass and weight are the same, but on the moon, where gravity is different, an object would have the same mass as on earth but a different weight. The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. Thank you to Sara Ludovise, Kaitlin Magliano, and Crystal Cove Alliance for their partnership in translating microbial ecology to schoolchildren and the broader public.

Thank you to Jessica Pratt for comments on earlier versions of this article. Litter decomposition, climate and liter quality. My boyfriend's name is…. I stuck it up his bum. Apple and a pear: Karen, a school administration staff member who also attended the school during the 60s as a student recalled saying this rhyme at that time, although the exact version was not discussed. My boyfriend gave me an apple, My boyfriend gave me a pear. My boyfriend gave me a kiss on the lips And threw me down the stairs. I gave him back that apple, I gave him back that pear, I gave him back that kiss on the lips And threw him down the stairs.

My boyfriend gave me an apple , My boyfriend gave me a pear. My boyfriend gave me fifty cents, And took me to the fair.

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I gave him back his apple, I gave him back his pear. I gave him back his fifty cents, And took his underwear. Details At School 17 Players: At School 09 Players:

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