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Description

Measurement data of aboveground litterfall and littermass and litter carbon, nitrogen, and nutrient concentrations were extracted from 685 original literature sources and compiled into a comprehensive database to support the analysis of global patterns of carbon and nutrients in litterfall and litter pools. Data are included from sources dating from 1827 to 1997.

The reported data include the literature reference, general site information (description, latitude, longitude, and elevation), site climate data (mean annual temperature and precipitation), site vegetation characteristics (management, stand age, ecosystem and vegetation-type codes), annual quantities of litterfall (by class, kg m-2 yr-1), litter pool mass (by class and litter layer, kg m-2), and concentrations of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and base cations for the litterfall (g m-2 yr-1) and litter pool components (g m-2).
The investigators intent was to compile a comprehensive data set of individual direct field measurements as reported by researchers. While the primary emphasis was on acquiring C data, measurements of N, P, and base cations were also obtained, although the database is sparse for elements other than C and N. Each of the 1,497 records in the database represents a measurement site. Replicate measurements were averaged according to conventions described in Section 5 and recorded for each site in the database. The sites were at 575 different locations.

Product Summary

Platforms
NOT APPLICABLE
Instruments
NOT APPLICABLE
Projects
Vegetation
Spatial Extent

N: 72.5 S: -54.5 E: 176.2 W: -156.7

Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
CARTESIAN
Temporal Extent
1827-01-01 to 1997-12-31
Data Partner
THE OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY (ORNL) DISTRIBUTED ACTIVE ARCHIVE CENTER (DAAC) (ORNL_DAAC)
Concept ID
C2784385713-ORNL_CLOUD
Data State
COMPLETE
Number of Files/Granules
2
Processing Level
3
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Litter Characteristics

Citation

Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. This dataset is openly shared, without restriction, in accordance with the EOSDIS Data Use and Citation Guidance.

Copy Citation

Holland, E. A., Post, W. M., Matthews, E., Sulzman, J. M., Staufer, R., & Krankina, O. N. (2014). A Global Database of Litterfall Mass and Litter Pool Carbon and Nutrients (Version 1). ORNL Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/1244 Date Accessed: 2026-10-07

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Publications Citing This Dataset

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Title Authors Year Referenced Datasets
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Global spectra of plant litter carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus
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Interannual variability and seasonality of litterfall in three temperate and boreal forest ecosystems of eastern Canada: A synthesis of long-term monitoring
  • Frisko, Rosalie, Duchesne, Louis, Thiffault, Evelyne, Houle, Daniel, Ouimet, Rock
The carbon transfer from plant to soil is more efficient in less productive ecosystems
  • Fan, Xianlei, Bai, Edith, Zhang, Jing, Wang, Xuhui, Yuan, Wenping, Piao, Shilong
Soil fauna bioturbation along a successional gradient following swidden agriculture in the lowland tropical rainforests of New Guinea
  • Frouz, Jan, Kukla, Jaroslav, Umari, Ruma, Whitfeld, Timothy J.S., Novotny, Vojtech
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Global distribution of soil fauna functional groups and their estimated litter consumption across biomes
  • Hedenec, Petr, Jimenez, Juan Jose, Moradi, Jabbar, Domene, Xavier, Hackenberger, Davorka, Barot, Sebastien, Frossard, Aline, Oktaba, Lidia, Filser, Juliane, Kindlmann, Pavel, Frouz, Jan
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  • Jevon, Fiona V., Polussa, Alexander, Lang, Ashley K., William Munger, J., Wood, Stephen A., Wieder, William R., Bradford, Mark. A.
Validation of terrestrial biogeochemistry in CMIP6 Earth system models: a review
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Combining sample designs to account for the whole necromass carbon stock in Brazilian Atlantic Forest
  • Maas, Greyce C. B., Sanquetta, Carlos R., Marques, Renato, Machado, Sebastiao Do A., Sanquetta, Mateus N. I., Corte, Ana P. Dalla, Schmidt, Luciane N.
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  • Tang, Fiona H. M., Riley, William J., Maggi, Federico
Benchmark estimates for aboveground litterfall data derived from ecosystem models
  • Li, Shihua, Yuan, Wenping, Ciais, Philippe, Viovy, Nicolas, Ito, Akihiko, Jia, Bingrui, Zhu, Dan
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