2.3 Litter mass loss, C and N loss
The litter taken out of the litterbags was cleaned from debris using
distilled water and dried at 60 °C for 72 h. Total C and N of litter
were measured from the samples taken after 70, 210 and 365 days using an
elemental analyzer (Elemental Vario Micro, Germany). From these data
changes in litter mass, and amount of C and N was calculated and
expressed as percentages of initial.