Surface litter protects rangeland soils against wind and water erosion and provides food and nesting materials for wildlife and insects. However, the ability of grassland systems to provide these services depends on the little studied topic of seasonal surface litter decomposition. Seasonal and annual surface litter decomposition rates were determined between 2014 and 2015 in central and western South Dakota at three mixed-grass prairie locations. Residue bags containing surface litter were placed in the field in late fall (1 November) of 2014 and removed after the winter (1 April), spring (1 July), and summer + fall seasons (1 November) of 2015. The litter was analyzed for total C, total N, acid detergent fiber (ADF), and acid detergent lignin (ADL). Average winter temperatures ranged from −5^oC to −15^oC, while summer temperatures ranged from 10^oC to 35^oC. Litter decomposition was lowest during the winter (0.57−0.86 g [kg × day]⁻¹) and greatest during the summer + fall (2.12−2.69 g [kg × day]⁻¹). Over the entire season, 40.8−62% of the surface litter decomposed. Winter litter decomposition was positively correlated with air temperature (r = 0.62, P < 0.01) and snow depth (r = 0.61, P < 0.01), and negatively correlated with C/N ratio (r = −0.65, P < 0.01), ADF (r = −0.35, P < 0.05), and ADL (r = −0.25, P < 0.05) concentrations. These findings indicate that winter decomposition cannot be ignored and that winter surface litter decomposition increases with snow depth.

地表垃圾可保护牧场土壤免受风和水的侵蚀，并为野生生物和昆虫提供食物和筑巢材料。但是，草地系统提供这些服务的能力取决于很少研究的季节性地垫分解的主题。在2014年至2015年之间，确定了南达科他州中部和西部三个杂草草原地区的季节性和年度地表凋落物分解速率。装有地面垃圾的残留物袋于2014年秋末（11月1日）放在田间，并于2015年冬季（4月1日），春季（7月1日）和夏季+秋季（11月1日）之后移走。分析总碳，总氮，酸性洗涤剂纤维（ADF）和酸性洗涤剂木质素（ADL）。平均冬季气温介于-5 ^Ø C至-15^ø C，而夏季气温范围从10 ^ø C至35 ^ö在冬天期间C.凋落物分解为最低（0.57-0.86克[公斤×日^{] -1}）和夏季+下落期间最大（2.12-2.69克[千克×天] ^-1）。在整个季节中，有40.8-62％的地面垫料分解。冬季凋落物分解与气温（r  = 0.62，P <0.01）和积雪深度（r  = 0.61，P <0.01）呈正相关，与C / N比呈负相关（r  = -0.65，P <0.01）， ADF（r = -0.35，P <0.05）和ADL（r  = -0.25，P <0.05）浓度。这些发现表明，冬季分解不容忽视，并且冬季地表垃圾分解随雪深增加而增加。