Decomposition rate of two tea types in two different forestry niches

Abstract

Organic matter decomposition is one of the most important processes associated with flow of energy and recirculation of organic matter in natural environments. Using commercially sold tea bags of Lipton Sencha green tea (SGT) and Lipton Ceylon black tea (CBT) their decomposition was studied in mixed and coniferous forest. At both stations 25 bags of each tea were buried for a period of 3 months. After elapsed time, the bags were dug up, dried, and the mean weight loss of organic material for each tea type and ecosystem was calculated. In the mixed forest the average weight loss of tea bags was 46.8% for Sencha and 32.1% for Ceylon tea and respectively 44.6% and 30.6%, in the coniferous forest. Statistical analysis test (ANOVA) revealed a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) in rate of decomposition between tea types, however the differences between the decomposition of the same type of tea on both type of forest were insignificant.