Abstract
The microbial degradation of plant litter is mediated by extracellular enzymes. Their specificity makes enzyme assays useful for comparing microbial communities, monitoring community succession, evaluating the effects of disturbance or ecosystem variables on microbial processes and for studying microbial processes at the molecular level. Thus far, the application of enzymic techniques to ecological studies of plant litter decomposition has been limited. Applied in combination with general indices of microbial biomass and activity, taxonomic analyses and process rate measurements, enzyme assays offer a mechanistic approach to decomposition studies. This potential is illustrated by discussing the role of cellulase in leaf litter degradation and by proposing a conceptual model of plant litter degradation from an enzymic perspective.
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